If you're looking at a house or a piece of land fronting SH 105 between Sour Lake and Bevil Oaks, the first question isn't the price. It's how much of that frontage TxDOT plans to need. The state's widening plan for the 7.34 miles from just east of SH 326 to Pine Island Bayou calls for about 144.7 acres of additional right of way. The Texas Transportation Commission put it in the 2027 Unified Transportation Program with a construction estimate of $127,784,000.
The plan TxDOT is carrying forward needs less land, and is expected to displace fewer structures, than the one it showed in 2021. Over the same stretch the cost went up and the projected construction date moved back. Residents asked for a road that keeps their driveways open, and that's mostly what they got. A buyer along the corridor in late 2026 is buying into that bargain.
A Median Became a Turn Lane
Today SH 105 through here is mostly a two-lane undivided rural road with shoulders and no median. Center turn lanes exist only between Countrywood Boulevard and Pinewood Boulevard. It's also more than a farm-to-market road. It belongs to the National Highway System, the Texas Highway Freight Network and the Texas Trunk System. At each end it already meets a five-lane section, which is why the Finding of No Significant Impact says no work is planned east of the Pine Island Bayou bridge.
TxDOT's first answer was a bigger road with a wide grass median. At the May 2, 2019 public meeting it proposed a four-lane divided highway. The rural section would have had a 40-foot grass median with crossovers, and the Sour Lake section a raised median. About 203 people came and 85 left comments. Their objections focused on the wide median, the limits on crossovers and access, the effect on their property, and drainage. Several asked outright for a continuous turn lane.
The 2021 version made the median wider. That design had a 48-foot depressed median, about 171 acres of new right of way, and possible displacement of one residence, three commercial structures and four other structures. It also drew objections to a proposed Bonura Road extension through private property. According to TxDOT's comment response matrix, that backage road was dropped after the online survey.
The November 2024 update is the one that changed the plan. The rural section now gets four travel lanes and a 16-foot continuous two-way left-turn lane in place of the grass median. TxDOT's project page says the new design matches the lane count at both ends, keeps access to adjacent properties and avoids median crossovers.
| Design stage | Rural cross-section | Added right of way | Potential displacements |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2019 meeting | Four lanes, 40-foot grass median with crossovers | Not compared here | Not compared here |
| November 2021 meeting | Four lanes, 48-foot depressed median | About 171 acres | 1 residence, 3 commercial, 4 other structures |
| November 2025 hearing | Four lanes plus 16-foot center turn lane | About 144.7 acres | 0 residences, 6 non-residential structures |
The 2021 and 2025 numbers come from different stages of design, and TxDOT says the 2025 figures are still subject to final design. Even so, the direction is plain. The current plan uses about 26 fewer acres and, as drawn, takes no homes.
Less Land, Bigger Bill
The price moved the other way from the acreage. A May 2025 state transportation program revision priced construction at $119,784,000. That revision is marked not approved. The 2027 Unified Transportation Program, approved August 26, 2026, now lists $127,784,000. Of that, $81.2 million comes from Category 2, the metropolitan and urban corridor money, and $46.584 million from Category 12, the strategic priority money. The document notes that the Category 2 share went up $8 million.
Part of the cost has nothing to do with lanes. The selected design adds three detention basins with access roads, two south of the highway and one north, and reworks a number of intersecting streets and private driveways. TxDOT says it needs the extra right of way for drainage, clear zone and utilities. Drainage and gully capacity came up again in the November 2024 comments, along with how much land would be taken and whether the takings were fair.
So "less land" doesn't mean less impact for every owner. A parcel close to a detention basin or a reworked intersection may lose more than a parcel along a plain stretch of highway. Those details are in TxDOT's four hearing schematics, which break the corridor at points measured from Guidry Road, Vaglica Drive and Pinewood Boulevard.
Why TxDOT Kept Coming Back
TxDOT describes the project's purpose as improving safety and connectivity, and its crash data shows why. In its November 2025 hearing presentation, TxDOT reported an average of 52 crashes a year on the corridor from 2019 through 2023. The average crash rate was 197.2 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. The statewide average for rural state highways was 85.5. The worst year, 2020, had 62 crashes. Year by year, the corridor ran 1.7 to 3.4 times the statewide rate.
The same presentation projects traffic growth of 42% from 2022 to 2030, 93% by 2050 and 117% by 2060, and says the road as it stands can't handle those volumes. When TxDOT defended the median in 2021, it said a median cuts headlight glare, lowers the chance of head-on collisions and gives errant vehicles room to recover. The design that won out keeps raised medians only at isolated locations and handles the rest with a turn lane.
The idea had local backing too. When the hearing came up in November 2025, Fox 4 Beaumont found local support for widening and medians, and KFDM and the Beaumont Enterprise both previewed the updated design.
The Calendar Has Slipped Before
The project's own record shows why you shouldn't plan around one target date:
- November 2021. TxDOT projected right-of-way acquisition and utility work through summer 2024, with construction in 2025.
- November 13, 2025. At the public hearing, held at Sour Lake Elementary on SH 326, TxDOT showed construction in spring 2027 and called the schedule preliminary.
- May 2026. The final environmental assessment is dated May 2026, and the FONSI built on it says no changes were made because of hearing comments.
- August 26, 2026. The 2027 Unified Transportation Program lists an estimated letting window of fiscal years 2027 through 2030.
As this post goes up at the end of October 2026, the project has environmental clearance and money in the program, but it isn't under construction. TxDOT's Beaumont District list still shows it as a project, not as active construction. The 2025 presentation said right-of-way acquisition would come after the schematic was finalized and environmental clearance was in hand, and gave no calendar date.
What the Finished Road Changes at the Curb
The work splits into two different roads. Inside Sour Lake, from about SH 326 to Ryan Road, the plan adds raised medians with openings for turn lanes, plus a 10-foot shared-use path and a 6-foot sidewalk. Out in the country, from about Nevada Street to Pine Island Bayou, it adds the 16-foot continuous turn lane and 10-foot outside shoulders for bicycles and pedestrians.
For anyone weighing a property, this is where the details matter. On the rural stretch toward Bevil Oaks, a turn lane means you can still turn left into a driveway or business from either direction, and that's exactly what the 2019 commenters asked for. Inside the city, raised medians mean some driveways may end up right-in, right-out depending on where the openings land. That's a schematic question you can answer for a specific address before you make an offer. A wider road with a path also puts traffic, and eventually construction, closer to the front porch than it is now.
For frontage owners, TxDOT's project page links its Right of Way page and the Landowner Bill of Rights, which explain the agency's relocation assistance program for displaced persons and businesses. This post is general information, not legal or financial advice. If TxDOT contacts you about your land, or a parcel you're buying sits in the right of way, confirm your situation with a real estate attorney or other qualified professional.
Questions That Come Up Along 105
Is the widening a done deal? It has a FONSI and authorized funding in the 2027 Unified Transportation Program. TxDOT gives the letting as a fiscal 2027 through 2030 window, not a specific month.
Could the price change again? The UTP says the Commission may approve up to 25% more funding for projects in Categories 2, 4 and 12. This project draws on Categories 2 and 12.
Will any homes be taken? The November 2025 hearing materials projected zero residential displacements and six non-residential structures, subject to final design. TxDOT's general project page still says some residential and commercial displacements are anticipated, so the hearing schematics are the better guide for a specific parcel.
If you're thinking about a home or acreage anywhere along SH 105 between Sour Lake and Bevil Oaks, I'm glad to pull up the TxDOT schematics with you and go over where that frontage sits before you commit. Beth Westbrook can help with that. Let's Connect.
