With the State approving the $350M needed to build Section E of the Grand Parkway, construction will begin this year on this western section of the controversial outer, outer, loop of Houston.

I previously wrote about Section E of the Grand Parkway back in January when ownership of the Grand Parkway was switching hands from Harris County back to the state of Texas.  It was rumored then that funding could be approved and construction started as soon as the end of 2011 and that is exactly what is happening.  Work could begin as soon as August and will take about 28 months to complete.  This means if all goes according to plan, we could be driving on the new Grand Parkway as early as December 2013.

The biggest winner here is Bridgeland.  Bridgeland’s “Town Center” completely centered on this segment of the Grand Parkway.  If this segment was delayed further due to lack of funding or environmental concerns, Bridgeland would have had to rethink their master plan.

Bridgeland Conceptual Plan

The other big benefit to Bridgeland, Fairfield, and other Cypress communities is that the commute time to I-10 and Houston’s Energy Corridor will be much shorter.

Here is more information about Grand Parkway Section E funding from the Houston Chronicle.