New mobility improvements and recreational opportunities may be on the way for Kingwood and Humble residents.
Harris County Precinct 4 is seeking funding to reroute a section of Hamblen Road in Kingwood around the outer edge of a new Precinct 4 park that will begin development in mid-2019.
The major transportation project would improve traffic flow and expand the development area of Precinct 4’s Edgewater Park, a 90-acre park that will serve as a key anchor park along the Spring Creek Greenway trail.
The current two-lane asphalt segment of Hamblen Road runs across the Union Pacific Railroad track through the middle of the proposed park. Plans include rerouting the segment diagonally from Loop 494 at Sorters-McClellan Road to Laurel Springs Lane and upgrading the segment as a four-lane concrete pavement section with a bridge over the railroad track. The previous Hamblen Road segment could then be repurposed to serve park visitors. If approved, construction will not affect the park’s cypress ponds.
Benefits include streamlining traffic over the railroad in the west and connecting communities to the east. Additionally, the proposed project will join existing hike and bike trails from Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center across the San Jacinto River to the Kingwood Greenbelt system in the northeast.
Harris County Precinct 4 is seeking $8 million in funding for the Hamblen Road project through the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s 2018 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The timeline for pursuing the Hamble Road project will be determined if the project is selected for inclusion on the 2018 TIP.