PEARLAND, Texas — Some Pearland businesses may be forced to find new homes when a widening project gets underway.
TxDOT wants to expand a six-mile stretch of Broadway (FM 518) all the way from 288 to Main Street.
“What we’re trying to do is not only address the growth of today, but also the growth of the future,” said TxDOT spokesman Danny Perez.
TxDOT plans to widen most of Broadway from four lanes to six lanes. The new configuration would also include an 18-foot raised median and curbs and gutters instead of ditches.
“The City of Pearland is doing some wonderful things as well to improve the east-west traffic in that area,” Perez said. “But 518 is still one of the most heavily travelled, important corridors in the Pearland area.”
Tiffany Thomas’s pet grooming business fronts 518.
“We’ve been here for 12 years,” Thomas said.
She’s in a shopping center that may be displaced thanks to future widening.
It’s happening just a few years after she told us the last expansion impacted her bottom line.
“It hurt us,” Thomas said. “A lot of people weren’t happy with what was being done, and it was too complicated to get in and out. So unfortunately, we did lose some business.”
TxDOT has a relocation team to help businesses or residents who may be forced to move. Right now, the estimated $57 million project is in the preliminary stages.
Find out more here.
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