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Vote may get tollway segment rolling: County decision could prepare work that puts toll lanes on its final stretch(Houston Chronicle Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 7--Commissioners Court is scheduled to vote today to seek bids for $4 million worth of right-of-way preparation contracts for toll lanes in the northeast Sam Houston Tollway -- the final segment of the 85-mile beltway. Three toll lanes in each direction are to be built in what now is the median of the 13-mile segment, which runs from Eastex Freeway (U.S. 59 North) to U.S. 90A (Old Beaumont Highway). The current parkway, three lanes in each direction, will become the frontage roads. Construction is scheduled to begin next summer and end in summer 2011. The project began in the late 1980s with a western segment connecting the Southwest and Katy freeways. Also known as Beltway 8, the route is owned by the Texas Department of Transportation, which operates its frontage roads. The tolled lanes are operated by the Harris County Toll Road Authority and are called the Sam Houston Tollway. Non-tolled segments, the longest of which runs from Ella to the Eastex Freeway, are called the Sam Houston Parkway. Like the rest of the tollway, the northeast segment would have gates for EZ Tag customers, and for those paying cash, at a toll plaza north of Tidwell. The estimated cost, $550 million, includes payment to TxDOT for use of the state-owned right of way. Toll road spokeswoman Patti Evans said the exact right of way payment is being negotiated based on what the land cost TxDOT. "This means going back and finding costs for right of way that may have been purchased in the 1950s," Evans said. "The county and TxDOT are working together on this and do not anticipate a prolonged negotiation." Today's agenda also includes spending $340,000 for landscape architecture on the segment, which Evans said would be designed to "mimic TxDOT's Green Ribbon aesthetic." This calls for preserving or replacing vegetation where possible and making the roadway visually pleasing, as well as functional. Since 2004, Commissioners Court has approved several design contracts for the segment. [email protected] To see more of the Houston Chronicle, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.HoustonChronicle.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Houston Chronicle Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |