Friendswood begins string of upgrades
City officials planning to use about $2.5 million for first round of road projects
The city of Friendswood has started construction on the first round of road projects to be funded by a $24 million bond issue approved by voters in November 2013.
The bond money is funding mobility and recreational improvements to city parks, the library and streets, along with fire station expansions and construction.
Eventual road projects funded through the bond package will include improvements to Blackhawk Boulevard, Mary Ann and Woodlawn drives, Townes and Winding roads and Shadowbend Avenue for a total of $7.71 million.
Work is underway to rebuild about 1,200 feet of Shadowbend from FM 518, also known as Friendswood Drive, to Woodlawn, City Engineer Patrick Donart said.
That will be followed by reconstruction this month of a roughly 800-foot section of Townes Road between Crofter Glen Drive and Lucian Lane.
Also included in the first phase of roadwork is replacement of about 1,625 feet of Mary Ann Drive between Christina Lane and FM 518, and a section of about 2,100 feet on Winding Road from
Boundry Court to north of Merriman Court.
But work on Mary Ann Drive and Winding Road won’t begin until Shadowbend is complete.
“We have limited them to two at one time,” Donart said.
Depending on weather, the Shadowbend portion of the work is on a 90-day schedule, meaning it could be complete by the end of May. The city allocated 90 days for each of the other streets, too.
Altogether, the road projects in this phase are expected to total $2.46 million. That includes design, along with replacing existing two-lane streets with concrete, curbs and gutters.
The Blackhawk and Woodlawn road improvements are included in Phase 4 of the bond projects, which has not been scheduled.
Friendswood city officials based the choice of roads for the improvement projects on feedback from the volunteer Friendswood Bond Advisory Group, made up of residents who researched city needs in 2013.
The members reported cracks and potholes on the roads they selected.
“All of them have wear and tear,” Donart said. “Some streets are worse; some are better. These are the streets the committee wanted.”
Also in Friendswood, work continues on the expansion of Whispering Pines Avenue/Friendswood Link Road.
“The weather has wreaked havoc on the contractor hours,” Donart said, adding that the Whispering Pines project got under way in June 2014. “We’re looking at a summertime completion.”
The project, designed to improve hurricane evacuation flow to Interstate 45, calls for transforming the two-lane, asphalt road to a three-lane, curb-and-gutter concrete road from FM 518 north to Hibiscus.
The road will be four lanes, when completed, of concrete with a median, curbs and gutter between Hibiscus and Blackhawk.
Whispering Pines Avenue’s name changes to Friendswood Link Road after it crosses the border of Harris and Galveston counties at Clear Creek.
Friendswood is contributing $1 million of the project’s $5.5 million cost. Remaining funds come from the Texas General Land Office’s 2009 Disaster Recovery Program. Flori Meeks is a freelance writer