HTX-BAY: Impact 10/28/2025

As plans for the expansion of the Grand Parkway head toward Galveston and Brazoria counties, officials with the Texas Department of Transportation shared a project overview at a town hall meeting Oct. 23 in League City.

The project: Section B-1, which is a portion of Section B within the Grand Parkway’s expansion project, will stretch from I-45 in League City to south of FM 2403 in Alvin.

The subsection will stretch 14 miles and have four direct connectors at I-45 and two direct connectors at SH 35, TxDOT Construction Management Engineer Kenneth Shirley said.

The details: Construction will impact several roadways in League City, including:

• Hobbs Road
• Calder Road
• FM 646

League City officials will soon vote on whether or not to update its noise ordinance to enforce a “general prohibition of unreasonable noise.”

What happened: League City City Council will vote at its Oct. 28 meeting to approve the final reading of an ordinance that would create a special event sound permit process and generally prohibit unreasonable noise, with some exceptions.

In determining whether noise is unreasonable, consideration in enforcing the ordinance may be given to the frequency, duration and recurrence of the sound in addition to its volume and location, according to previous reporting from Community Impact.

What else: City council will also vote to approve contracts for several public works projects and city programs, including street lights, library materials, and vehicles for first responders, according to agenda documents.

Houston’s inaugural Fleet Week honoring U.S. military has been postponed until 2026 due to what city officials called “significant challenges” due to the federal government shutdown, according to an Oct. 22 news release. 

More details: Fleet Week, a celebration of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard, held in various locations across the country, was originally scheduled to be in Houston from Nov. 5-12, which coincided with the Veteran’s Day federal holiday. Fleet Week Houston was to serve as the closing event for the yearlong celebrations of the Navy and Marine Corps' 250th anniversaries.

What to expect: While no new dates have been announced, city officials said they will be working with the Port of Houston and military leadership to announce when the new dates can be confirmed.

“The city of Houston and the Steering Committee want to ensure our inaugural Fleet Week Houston is an outstanding experience that appropriately honors service members and deepens community-military connections,” a statement from city officials reads.

Texas is home to about 3.5 million small businesses, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Estimates show that the average Texas small-business owner could save about $2,500 per year if voters approve an expanded business tax exemption on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The details: State Proposition 9 would exempt up to $125,000 of a business’s personal property, such as equipment, furniture and vehicles, from taxation. Texas business owners currently receive a tax exemption on property worth $2,500 or less.

“At $2,500, virtually everyone's paying this tax,” NFIB Texas Director Jeff Burdett said in an Oct. 24 interview. “If you have a desk, a computer and a chair, you're probably over $2,500 [in inventory]. … It makes no difference for almost any business.”

At the polls: Early voting in the Nov. 4 election began Oct. 20 and runs through Oct. 31. For more information about the propositions and candidates on your local ballot, visit www.communityimpact.com/voter-guide.