by Nicole Bradford
A mobility study and a separate FM 518 corridor study will soon be undertaken by the Houston-Galveston Area Council to guide Pearland’s future road projects.
City Council on Monday approved an agreement with H-GAC to complete both studies.
“They do lots of planning studies and are able to access federal funding to do those,” City Manager Trent Epperson said. “Often when we have these types of needs, we partner with H-GAC.”
Pearland is covering about 10 percent of the cost of the studies, he said, “and we’ll see a lot of benefit out of those.”
The last plan was done in 2014, Epperson said, “which has been used extensively to guide our intersection improvements and roadway priorities.”
The FM 518 study will span from McLean to FM 2351 in Friendswood.
“As everyone’s aware, 518 has already been slated for widening between 288 and McLean,” Epperson said. “This is taking a look at East of there over to Friendswood. Our transportation models show we’ll see as much or more traffic and growth in that section than west of McLean.”
Safety and congestion are among the topics of the study and recommendations.
The studies are expected to take about 18 months. Recommendations resulting from the studies will receive public input.
