Cypress breaks ground on long-awaited Greenhouse Road underpass project
A $76 million underpass will carry Greenhouse Road beneath Union Pacific tracks at U.S. 290, finally targeting Cypress's rail bottleneck near Skinner Road.
Cypress drivers finally saw the Greenhouse Road underpass move from planning to pavement as officials broke ground May 19 on a project meant to cut through one of northwest Harris County’s most stubborn rail chokepoints.
The new crossing will connect Greenhouse Road to Skinner Road through a tunnel under the Union Pacific railroad near U.S. 290, giving traffic a direct route where trains and highway congestion have long squeezed the corridor. For commuters moving between Towne Lake, nearby neighborhoods and the major highway network around U.S. 290, the payoff is supposed to be simpler, faster trips and fewer stops at the railroad line.
The project is being built through a wide partnership that includes Caldwell Companies, Texas Department of Transportation, Union Pacific Railroad, Harris County Precinct 3, Harris County Municipal Utility District No. 500, the Harris County Toll Road Authority and Harris County Emergency Services District No. 9. Officials said the construction bid came in at about $76 million, below an earlier $81 million estimate, and about 80% of the cost, roughly $60.8 million, will come from federal funds secured through the Houston-Galveston Area Council.
Harris County MUD No. 500 said it has spent about 20 years working with Caldwell Companies, TxDOT and Union Pacific on the Greenhouse Road extension north of Mound Road to connect U.S. 290 and Skinner Road. A Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing places the work at Greenhouse Rd and Skinner Rd in Cypress, with an estimated cost of $81.2 million, a start date of April 1, 2025 and a completion date of Dec. 29, 2028, underscoring that the build will take years, not months.
The finished project is expected to do more than bury the tracks. Community planning documents describe an expanded overpass on U.S. 290, new sidewalks and pedestrian crossings, and a six-lane Greenhouse Road corridor with 10-foot hike-and-bike lanes on both sides. Drainage work and an underpass pump station outfall are also part of the package, along with deeper structural work tied to the U.S. 290 bridge at Skinner Road.
The biggest daily change should come in response time and reliability. The underpass is designed to let emergency vehicles bypass the train and shorten travel between the north and south sides of U.S. 290, turning a long-promised mobility project into a route that could finally relieve one of Cypress’s most familiar traffic frustrations.
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