Westpark Tollway At Grand Parkway

[MaxConcrete]

I received a newsletter in the mail from Aguirre & Fields engineers, and the headline is that the firm has received a contract to develop the full schematic for the interchange at the Westpark Tollway and the Grand Parkway.

The graphic shows a full stack interchange with all 8 connectors, and the Westpark Tollway continuing west of the Grand Parkway. The article says the original design had only four connectors. This clearly suggests that there are plans to extend the tollway westward. This also suggests that they're expecting a lot of traffic. Also, it appears that FBCTRA is sticking to traditional, good-quality design and not trying to build things on the cheap like HCTRA's Rube Goldberg interchange at Beltway 8.

Still, it makes me wonder. The Westpark Tollway is a minimal service facility and can't be expanded. Now plans are in the works for a high-powered stack at the far west end.

No information on when this could be built, but I'm assuming it would be in conjunction with construction of toll lanes on the Grand Parkway, whenever that may happen.

[kjb434]

Whoah!!, I though a minimal but effective interchange would be used.

I've heard rumor of the extension. Some Fort Bend County Planning maps send the tollway back to I-10, some leave it spurred out in the middle of nowhere. With the amount of developmen occuring in the Fort Bend area of the Westpark Toll Road, the facility will become heavily used.

Do you think HCTRA and FBCTRA will switch to adjustable tall rates like the center lanes of the Katy in the future? This may be a way to handle traffic increases and spread the traffic around. It could use a pricing structure like that Katy but it would be pay for all vehicles.

[GovernorAggie]

It's good to see that they will go forward with this style of interchange. I also can't believe HCTRA is going through all the trouble of building the convoluted interchange at BW8, only to have to rebuild it completely in 10-20 years (IMO).

This stack as well as the ones at GP/59 and GP/10 will be the first multi-level stack interchanges in the Houston area outside Harris County, right? I think the first flyovers for GP/10 actually start work pretty soon (within the next 5-7 years).

[Perimeter285]

The freeway portions of the Grand Parkway (through Cinco Ranch) that are already built are very nicely designed and landscaped. Definitely breaks the concrete and more concrete mold of other Houston freeways. I can only hope any future work to the Grand Parkway and Westpark Tollway will keep that pattern.

Not that I'm for the Grand Parkway (very much against it, actually), but since it's going to happen anyway, might as well hope it's designed well.

[kjb434]

The GP will be like no other Houston freeway. With limited feeder roads and many places with out them, it will lend itself to a more rural parkway.

The lack of feeder roads will prevent stretches of commercial development that we typically see. The only drawback to not having feeders roads is that it prevents the use of what is called spider ramp placement versus diamond interchanges. Many new and reconstructed freeways will switch to the spider configuration because it pulls the merging and traffic pile ups to the feeders away from the mainlanes. Having simple diamond interchages could possibly have backups at from traffic leaving the highway. Now this will happen if the traffic counts get high enought to cause this.

[tomv]

I'm surprised too that a full stack is being considered for the interchange at the Grand Parkway. Of course, I'm PLEASANTLY surprised like any good freeway nerd. I guess that means they are dead serious about the westward extension of the Tollway.

I've been using the Westpark to get to work in the morning. It's fantastic. I get off at Fondren so I don't know anything about congestion at the 59 exit up ahead. It's a little tricky getting on the eastbound tollway at Hwy 6. They have a temporary connection from 6 to Alief Clodine, then you take a temporary entrance to the tollway a little further east. It can get really congested in the morning. A good shortcut is to take Bellaire to Metro Drive to Alief Clodine then enter at Eldridge.

I don't think there's going to be a permanent entrance to the eastbound tollway at Hwy 6, so that's unfortunate. I could be wrong, but I think the closest entrance will be at Eldridge.

My other main freeway is the Katy Freeway. The contrast between it and tollway

couldn't be any more striking. The Westpark really is like a mini-freeway. It doesn't have as much negative effect on the neighborhoods and apartments that it passes by as you might think. It blows right past Royal Oaks, for instance,but they have a nice divider wall and you can hardly tell. This will probably stir up the NIMBYs (Heights Tollroad?) but I think this type of freeway should be seriously considered for close in parts of town.