Transportation in Sugar Land, Texas facts for kids

Transportation in Sugar Land, Texas mostly involves driving on its many highways and using its local airport. Sugar Land doesn't have a public bus or train system like some big cities. However, there has been talk about extending Houston's METRORail train system to Sugar Land. This would be a special train called a 'commuter rail' that helps people travel to and from work. Many people who live in Sugar Land work in Houston. This means that during busy times, like morning and evening rush hour, the main highway, Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59, gets very crowded. Because of this, many people in the area would like to see a commuter train project happen.

Major Roads and Highways

Sugar Land has several important roads and highways that help people get around. These roads are often improved to handle the growing number of cars.

• Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 is the main freeway that cuts across Sugar Land. It has been made wider recently to help with the daily traffic of people going to work. The part of the freeway east of State Highway 6 now has eight main lanes and special lanes for carpools. It also has six continuous frontage roads, which are smaller roads that run next to the main highway.

• U.S. Highway 90A is another important highway that goes through Sugar Land from west to east. It passes through the older, historic part of the city. This highway is also being widened to have eight lanes with a wide grassy area in the middle.

• State Highway 6 is a major road that runs from the north to the southeast of Sugar Land. It goes through a large planned community called First Colony. Work is starting on a bridge over University Boulevard and U.S. Highway 90A. When finished, this highway will have six main lanes and frontage roads.

• Grand Parkway/State Highway 99 is a newer highway. Its frontage roads opened in 1994, and the main toll lanes opened in 2014. It goes through the New Territory and River Park communities, which are just outside Sugar Land's main city limits. More construction will start soon to extend this highway further south. It will eventually pass through other communities like Greatwood.

• Farm to Market Road 1876, also known as Eldridge Road, is a state highway that runs north and south in northern Sugar Land. It goes through many established neighborhoods and forms the western edge of the Sugar Land Business Park. If you go north on this road, you will enter the city of Houston and Harris County.

• Farm to Market Road 2759, also called Crabb River Road and Thompsons Road, is a country highway that serves the far southwestern part of Sugar Land's surrounding area. This highway starts where State Highway 99 meets Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59. It passes by communities like Greatwood and eventually leads to the town of Thompsons.

• University Boulevard is a planned major road that will run north-south and then southeast. It will eventually go through several planned communities like Telfair and Riverstone. Some parts of this road are already finished and open to traffic.

Airport

Sugar Land Regional Airport is an airport that the city of Sugar Land bought in 1990. It used to be called Sugar Land Municipal Airport. This airport is the fourth largest in the bigger Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown area. About 350 planes use this airport every day.

Today, the airport mostly serves smaller, private planes, known as general aviation aircraft. A new terminal building and a large complex for these planes were built and finished around 2006. For a short time in the mid-1990s, Sugar Land Regional Airport had commercial flights from a Texas airline that no longer exists. For regular commercial flights, people in Sugar Land use Houston's two larger airports: George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), which is about 45 miles northeast, and William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), about 30 miles east.

There is a large park north of the Sugar Land Regional Airport, and houses have been built directly south of it. These things make it difficult for the airport to expand in the future.