The first two-mile segment of the Westpark Tollway is set to open in Fulshear around noon on Saturday, giving drivers a long-awaited escape hatch from one of the region’s worst traffic choke points. The early rollout is part of a nearly $72 million expansion that county officials say should shave commuting time for people who use FM 1093 and FM 359. Contractors and local leaders are also urging drivers to take it easy as the fresh pavement opens and traffic patterns start to shift.
The first segment of the Westpark Tollway extension officially opens this Saturday, February 28, 2026. This phase will allow westbound drivers to exit just past FM 1463, while eastbound drivers will be able to enter just west of FM 1463, improving access and mobility.
— FULSHEAR POLICE (@FulshearPolice) February 26, 2026
How the new ramps will work
As Fulshear Police highlighted in a social post, this phase of the project will let westbound drivers exit just past FM 1463 and allow eastbound traffic to enter just west of that intersection. The setup lets motorists skip the signal at FM 359/FM 1463, which has become a daily headache for commuters.
The design drops two new lanes into the middle of FM 1093 so the existing surface lanes stay on the outside as service roads. That configuration avoids the need for extra right-of-way, according to Community Impact. Those center lanes are built to keep steady traffic flowing through the corridor instead of forcing everyone into stop-and-go frontage-road signals.
Timeline, builder and cost
Construction on the four-mile extension began in August 2025, and the agency has opened the first two-mile stretch ahead of schedule, with full opening of the extension expected by August 2026, Houston Chronicle reports. Precinct 1 Commissioner Vincent Morales told the paper the early opening is "well ahead of the contractual completion date of November 3, 2026," and he credited Harper Bros. Construction and its subcontractors for speeding up work on the roughly $72 million project. County and toll-road officials say the move was timed to cut into peak-hour backups that have grown worse as the area has boomed.
Why Fulshear needed a lifeline
Fulshear has shifted from small ranching town to one of the fastest-growing suburbs in the region, with population estimates jumping into the low 40,000s in recent years, according to U.S. Census estimates compiled on the Fulshear profile. That surge has pushed far more vehicles onto FM 1093 and the FM 359 interchange than the roads were originally built to handle, creating long daily backups and frequent delays for commuters. Local officials and developers have repeatedly pointed to congestion as a main reason to speed up road and transit projects across western Fort Bend County.
What drivers should expect
The new ramps will begin to change traffic patterns around the FM 1093/FM 359 corridor starting the weekend of the opening, so drivers should be ready for new merge points and updated signal timing in the area. Fulshear Police reminded motorists in their social post to obey the posted limits and noted that "this is a tollway, not a raceway," adding that officers will be monitoring speeds as drivers adjust to the new setup.
Motorists who usually crawl up to the FM 359/FM 1463 signal may find the tolled through-lanes trim minutes off peak-hour commutes, while the old surface lanes continue to handle local access and short neighborhood hops.
What comes next
Officials say the extension will ultimately run west to Charger Way and that the full project should be open by August 2026, Houston Chronicle reports. County leaders are already talking about pushing the corridor farther west, including a longer-term move toward Simonton, as part of a broader effort to stay ahead of growth and avoid repeating today’s bottlenecks, according to Covering Katy.
