KATY, Texas (Covering Katy News) — Katy-area residents are one step closer to having a Texas Department of Public Safety driver license office close to home after the state registered plans for a nearly $5.6 million facility on Kingsland Boulevard, about 2 miles west of the Grand Parkway.
For nearly 17 years, Katy-area residents have traveled to Rosenberg, northwest Houston and other driver license offices for everything from renewing a driver's license to taking a road test. The new office is expected to make those services significantly more convenient for one of the fastest-growing areas in Texas.
According to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the new office will be built at 23626 Kingsland Blvd., about 4 miles east of Katy Mills Mall. Construction is scheduled to begin Sept. 1, 2026, with completion anticipated by March 30, 2027, although construction schedules are subject to change.
The project calls for a 22,960-square-foot, one-story building on 9.3 acres with vehicle testing canopies, 270 parking spaces, and an area for driver testing.
Texas DPS confirmed to the Houston Business Journal that the facility will offer all standard driver's license services as well as commercial driver's license skills testing. The publication also reported the office will feature 32 service counters, making it one of the larger driver license offices in the Houston region.
The Katy area's previous DPS driver license office, located on George Bush Drive, closed in 2010 after operating for nearly three decades. Since then, many residents have relied on the DPS Mega Center in Rosenberg, about 21 miles from central Katy — roughly a 30-minute drive on a typical weekday outside of rush hour — for driver's license services.
For many families, obtaining a driver's license has required more than making a single appointment.
Parents and their teenagers often make multiple trips to Rosenberg before the actual driving test so new drivers can practice the parallel parking portion of the exam at the same location where that portion of the test is given. On weekends, when the DPS office is closed and the course isn't being used for testing, it's common to see people taking turns practicing before test day. That familiarity can help reduce anxiety when it's time to take the exam. Having a testing location much closer to home could eliminate much of that extra travel while giving young drivers the opportunity to prepare in the same environment where they'll take their exam.
Although the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing describes the project as privately funded because it is being constructed on privately owned land, Texas DPS previously told the Houston Business Journal that the Texas Legislature appropriated state funding for the project through recent budget measures.
When completed, the office will restore a full-service Texas DPS driver license office to the Katy area for the first time since 2010, providing a closer option for hundreds of thousands of residents across Katy and surrounding communities.
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Driver License Office Returning to Katy Area After 17-Year Absence