Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road
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| Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road |
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| Length: | ? mi (? km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1988[1] | ||||||||
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| Major junctions: |
 Beltway 8 in Houston |
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| South end: |  SH 6 near Sugar Land |
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The Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road connects State Highway 6 near Sugar Land in eastern Fort Bend County to US 90A in southwestern Harris County. It is proposed to reach a northern terminus at the southwestern edge of Interstate 610 in the near future. The toll road has two lanes in each direction with major interchanges at State Highway 6, Lake Olympia Parkway, and FM 2234. A main toll plaza is located north of FM 2234 with ramp tollbooths at FM 2234 and Lake Olympia Parkway. The cost for the toll road is estimated between $55 million and $60 million. The Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) administered the northern segment of the road—just south of Beltway 8 at the county line to US 90A—and uses its purple pentagonal shield referred to as the Fort Bend Toll Road. Like other toll roads in the Houston area, the speed limit is 65 mph—even inside Beltway 8.
[edit] History
In November 2000, citizens of Fort Bend County approved a $140 million bond issue to support revenue bond financing for construction of the Parkway and Westpark projects. After fulfilling prudent feasibility studies and careful planning, Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority (FBCTRA) broke ground and began the construction phase in July 2003. The Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road opened August 30, 2004.
Harris County Commissioners' Court approved an approximate five-mile extension of the proposed Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road project. While the primary corridor was constructed by the Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority, the extension was built by the Harris County Toll Road Authority and provides a connection from the Fort Bend County line at Beltway 8 to US Highway 90A, and to the existing Post Oak Road at West Bellfort—near the southwest corner of the 610 Loop.
The tollway's origins date back to TxDOT's (Texas Department of Transportation) original proposal of building a highway from the southwest corner of Loop 610 in Houston (where North Braeswood and 610 meet). A section of frontage roads (later part of Hillcroft Avenue in Houston) were constructed in the late 1960s/early 1970s (date unknown) south of the proposed Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway) south of Harris County adjacent to the Chasewood and Willow Park II subdivisions in northeast Fort Bend County.
Originally planned as either the West Loop Extension or the Bay City Freeway, the proposed freeway was cancelled in 1979 although remnants of the freeway exist (an extension of South Post Oak between West Bellfort and North/South Braeswood, along with a section of the Fort Bend Tollway between Beltway 8 and West Fuqua in Fort Bend County). Although the 1979 cancellation has ended TxDOT's highway proposal, Fort Bend County had an interest in the roadway project since 1984. On February 24, 1980, the parkway was officially designated by TxDOT as State Highway 122—stretching from Beltway 8 to the Grand Parkway (SH99). Environmental and feasibility studies were conducted during the next 10 years, culminating with the bond approval in 2000. In 2006, the State Highway 122 designation was removed from the section north of State Highway 6.
