The words that commuters in northwest Harris County have been waiting to hear for years finally can be said out loud: U.S. 290 is open.

Though some minor work remains, crews along the freeway put U.S. 290 in its final configuration last month, with four lanes in each direction from the Grand Parkway to Waller County, according to Texas Department of Transportation officials. An event celebrating what officials called “substantial completion” is scheduled for Wednesday.

Some people already have reported better travel times in the area, which remains under construction along the frontage roads, TxDOT spokeswoman Deidre George said. Frontage roads in the area remain one lane in each direction, at least for the next few weeks, she said. Crews also will close some lanes at night for striping and concrete grinding along the main lanes.

“It’s some smaller things and we’re there,” said Frank Leong, TxDOT area engineer for western Harris County, which covers the U.S. 290 project.

Still, news that some of the lanes were opening brightened spirits for weary drivers.

“Progress is good,” said Tom Griffin, 55. “Just means they are closer to being finished.”

Griffin, who commutes from Cypress to his job in Memorial City, said the work has been “living hell” for drivers, especially as the years wore on.

“We just want it over with,” he said.

The opening for the most part eliminates 11 miles of work zone and squeezed lanes along U.S. 290, which has been under construction in some way since 2011, starting with work at the freeway’s terminus at Loop 610. Construction of the widened freeway is expected to cost $1.8 billion along the 38 miles in Harris County, not including some land acquisition costs. Officials have set the total cost of the project at $2.4 billion, one of the biggest jobs ever undertaken by TxDOT.

George said work remains on track to wrap up later this year, though it may take all of 2018 to make that estimate stick. Crews are spread across many segments of U.S. 290, rebuilding the interior lanes of the connection with Loop 610 and large swaths of the freeway between the Sam Houston Tollway and Grand Parkway.

Some segments are months behind schedule, dragging some project openings with them. When work expanded in 2013 to cover all of the freeway within Harris County, TxDOT officials said the widening would be completed in 2016. As construction continued, the project was beset by delays in relocating utilities, setbacks related to heavy rains and one of the project’s builders walking off the job. TxDOT replaced the contractor with another working on an adjacent segment of the project.

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The widening work will make U.S. 290 five lanes in each direction from Loop 610 to Texas 6, and four lanes in each direction from Texas 6 to Waller County. The entire route will have a bi-directional HOV or HOT lane.

The next round of openings along the freeway, however, could be a lengthy wait as workers hustle to finish overpasses of local streets. Leong said it is likely the portion from Loop 610 to the Sam Houston Tollway will open in five or six months, followed a few weeks later by the center segment from the tollway to Grand Parkway.

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