Residents gathered at Creekwood Middle School on Tuesday night to hear an update on capital improvement projects in their area.

Houston City Council member Mike Sullivan, whose District E includes Kingwood and the surrounding area, gathered city officials to discuss projects and address citizens’ concerns.

Residents will see progress on the following projects in the coming months:

• Kingwood Neighborhood Library, at 2601 Bens Branch Drive, is scheduled to hold a grand opening in April.

• The current library, 4102 Rustic Woods Drive, will be remodeled into a community center and park. Construction on that project will start in October, officials said.

• Work to widen Northpark Drive from two to four lanes from Lake Houston Parkway to Mills Branch Drive should begin by the end of this year, said Dan Menendez of the public works department. That project is in partnership with the Lake Houston Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, an area covering 1,800 acres in Kingwood that funds projects within the community.
“We are working with them closely to make sure the things that are needed for this area are taken care of,” Menendez said.

• Sidewalks also will be added to the north side of Mills Branch from Shadow Forest Elementary to Northpark and on the north side of Kingwood Drive from Chestnut Ridge to Kingwood College. Both projects should start within the next few months, Sullivan said.

• The city also is tinkering with the timing of traffic signals where Northpark meets both Loop 494 and Russell Palmer Drive.

The intersections of Kingwood and Green Oak Drive (finished), Northpark and Woodland Hills Drive (under way), and Kingwood and Lake Houston Parkway (to start this spring) also are receiving improvements — including new right-turn lanes, lengthened left-turn lanes and striping for dual left-turn lanes.

The fountain at the southeast corner of Kingwood and the parkway will be left intact, officials said.

Bob Rehak of Kingwood Super Neighborhood Council was the only citizen to step to the microphone to discuss capital projects.

“It’s really exciting to see some of these projects finally coming to fruition after years of pushing those things forward,” he said, thanking city workers for coming out on a night when icy roads were forecast. “I know that did not happen by accident, so our hats are off to you.”

Rehak described several new projects his group has requested:

• A drainage study for the upper part of Forest Cove, which has had flooding issues.

• City help to extend sewer and water utilities to Kingwood’s parks, “so that when we get 1,000 kids down at Rivergrove Park, for instance, on a Saturday playing in a tournament they’ll have restrooms to go to and water to drink,” Rehak said. “Right now there’s one toilet for women and one for men, and that’s just not enough to accommodate the kind of growth we’re seeing within the community.”

Utility service also would allow the parks to be used more often because there would be enough water to irrigate them during droughts, Rehak said.

Sullivan offered his own praise for city employees in attendance, several of whom stayed after the half-hour meeting to discuss drainage problems and park plans with residents.

“They’re very responsive to us. They work well with my office,” Sullivan said. “We appreciate the work they do for us because without them I would not be able to deliver on all the things that you see going on right now.”