More projects planned for Hwy. 99

By BOBBY HORN JR.
CHAMBERS COUNTY– Since Hwy. 99 opened, the citizens of Beach City have been forced to contend with a dangerous intersection with no deceleration/turn lane turning east onto Fisher Road from Hwy 99.
Beach City Mayor Billy Combs said that the city council and many of the citizens have been trying for a long time to get the Texas Department of Transportation to correct this and install a deceleration/turn lane.
Thier efforts may have paid off.
Cory Taylor, an engineer with TxDOT in Liberty, said that the project has been submitted to the Houston-Galveston Area Council.
The $150,000 project would involve installing a deceleration lane for those turning right onto Fisher Road from the northbound side. The timeline for the project, Taylor said, has not been set.

“I want to thank City Council and all of you that fought so long and never gave up on getting this done,” Combs said. “I want to give a special thanks to Commissioner Senac, Chambers County Engineer Don Brandon, TX-Dot Area Engineer Cory Taylor and TX-Dot District Engineer Randy Redmond for their roles in getting this project approved. Without the help and cooperation of these individuals this project would not have been approved. Please join me in expressing our gratitude to them, especially our local officials and staff.”

Tolls in near future?
TxDOT says that Hwy. 99 could become a toll road as soon as this Spring.
Taylor said that TxDOT has taken over the road from the Harris County Toll Road Authority. They are now in the process of taking down the county’s cameras and installing their own cameras.
Once activated (current estimate is April or May) automated tolls will be recorded. Drivers will then need to have either a TxTag, EZ Tag (available in Harris County) or any of the other toll tags issued in Texas such as ZipPass or TollTag.