Highway construction on I-69 making progress in Fort Bend County

FORT BEND COUNTY (KTRK) -- The I-69 widening project will double the capacity of the Southwest Freeway as it extends through Fort Bend County.

Long-suffering drivers in Sugar Land, Richmond and Rosenberg know a huge stretch of the freeway has been under construction since 2014, but the end is in sight. A major portion of the project is scheduled for completion in May of next year.

"It is a little of an inconvenience, but just a year left makes it seem like the light at the end of the tunnel almost," said Richmond resident, Dathan Broussard.

He is no different than any other driver on I-69 in Fort Bend County, weary of driving alongside orange barrels. However, he believes a bigger highway is necessary.

"It is growing, just in the past couple of years, a lot of the new subdivisions are going up. They just opened a new HEB around the corner two or three weeks ago, so it's blowing up."

A study just released last year by the UH Hobby School of Public Affairs, shows Fort Bend County could grow by approximately two million people between 2010 and 2050 if recent growth patterns continue.

TxDOT is responding to the booming population.

"Fort Bend and Montgomery County are two of the fastest growing counties that we have in our district. So certainly it is necessary that we get out there and start widening," said TxDOT spokeswoman Deidrea George.

Here are the details of the I-69 widening project in Fort Bend County. It will double the capacity of the highway between Grand Parkway and Reading Road:

*Four lanes each way

*HOV lane in each direction to just past Reading Road

*Continuous frontage roads

*Completed in May 2019

*Additional widening projects on I-69 from Reading Road to the Wharton County line all finished by September 2020