Costello provided the preliminary engineering and final design for this 1.5-mile urban roadway project. A 2-lane asphalt roadway was widened to a 4-lane divided curb-and-gutter section from 750’ east of Jones Road to Perry Road with new roadway construction from Perry Road to FM 1960. The scope of work included roadway design, drainage design incorporating LID design features, detention pond design expansion, stormwater pollution prevention plans, traffic control plans, culvert widening at Harris County Flood Control Ditch (HCFCD) P100-00-00, traffic signal coordination, coordination of hydraulic analysis within the 100-year floodplain of Greens Bayou, sub-consultant management (environmental and geotechnical investigation), and construction phase services. The Costello team also designed a bridge class culvert crossing at HCFCD P161-00-00, 4-10’X7’ RCB culverts.

7gen Planning (7gen), a division of Costello, provided landscape architecture for this thoroughfare with an esplanade inverted for drainage using low-impact design (LID) features. The LID portion of the project consisted of approximately 2,300 LF of vegetated swale. As an added benefit, the medium/tall grasses assist in reducing the velocity of stormwater runoff, and the extensive deep-root systems of native grasses assist stormwater percolation into the natural substrate. Keeping the grassed swale in its natural, medium prairie height benefited sustainably by reducing the number of times a maintenance crew must mow the channel, thus reducing maintenance costs. A series of gabion walls were designed into the swale to help slow stormwater movement, assisting in percolation retention. Also, various Texas native trees were proposed to plant along the esplanade for aesthetics to complement the project.

Costello prepared the construction documentation for the pavement design, grading, and drainage and coordinated all jurisdictional easement agreements between HCFCD and the City of Houston. 7gen’s project scope included planting design, construction detailing, and contract specifications.
Construction for this project is estimated to begin near the end of 2021.