Sidewalk - Royalwood Drive - 2024 in Houston, TX

A new 7,915-square-foot sidewalk along Royalwood Drive in Houston has passed final inspection, concluding its construction phase. The project, located in the 77049 ZIP code, was completed in January 2026 under the oversight of the Harris County Office of the County Engineer. This infrastructure improvement serves the needs of Royalwood Elementary School, providing a safe pedestrian route alongside the roadway.

Scope and Investment

The estimated cost for this new construction was $155,750, equating to $20 per square foot. The scope included the placement of a 6-foot wide sidewalk, driveway replacement as needed, traffic sign replacement, and pavement re-striping. This investment is significantly below the Harris County median for new construction, which stands at $750,000, and well under the county median cost per square foot of $88.

Harris County acted as both the owner and the design firm of record. Jeromy G Murphy served as the registered accessibility specialist for the project. The filing noted that the work involved public funds and public land, ensuring compliance with federal and state accessibility standards. The project was registered with TDLR in July 2025, with plan review completed the same month.

Construction began in August 2025, with a scheduled completion date of October 2025. The final inspection was passed in January 2026, confirming that the physical work met the required specifications. In August 2026, TDLR closed the project file, which marks the end of the accessibility review process for this construction.

Local Context

The Royalwood Drive area is part of a community with a population of approximately 40,373 residents according to U.S. Census ACS 2023 estimates. The median household income in this ZIP code is $70,514. The Office of the County Engineer has other TDLR-registered projects in the region, including parks in Houston, Crosby, and Spring, totaling over $3.4 million in recent filings.

The project’s 59-day scheduled build window was shorter than the county median of 220 days for similar new construction filings. This efficient timeline allowed the county to deliver the sidewalk improvements to the school neighborhood without extended disruption to traffic or local residents.