Weeds and fast-growing trees on FM 518 medians are blocking road signs, and League City residents want to know when the city's new landscaping contractor will catch up.

Kathy Griggs, a League City resident who commutes along FM 518, told The Daily News the medians look neglected. "They're just overgrown," Griggs said. "The weeds are all overgrown and they look awful."

The problem stands out.

FM 518 is one of five roadways where the Texas Department of Transportation spent about $2.2 million landscaping medians through its Green Ribbon Program. Construction began in July 2023 and wrapped in April 2025. Under the grant terms, TxDOT covered maintenance for the first two years, then transferred long-term upkeep to the city in April 2026.

League City's Park Operations department outsourced the work to Earthworks Landscape and Maintenance rather than hire two full-time employees. City Council awarded the three-year contract on March 24, capping spending at $351,000.

City communications director Sarah Osborne said the contractor is still transitioning into the role and working toward a schedule that covers all medians equally. Osborne did not specify a target date for when maintenance would normalize. She said the city is "continuously reevaluating where more work is needed."

Osborne said the city accepted the grant knowing it would eventually take on maintenance, calling the TxDOT funding a significant savings that beautified League City's busiest roadways.

The median project dates to 2021, when League City won Green Ribbon funding to landscape 59 medians across 13 miles of roadway, totaling 18.5 acres. Plants on FM 518 include crepe myrtles, dwarf crepe myrtles and Foster holly.

Park Operations already manages 425 acres of parkland, 17 miles of trails and 27 sports fields, which is why the department turned to a contractor for the additional median acreage.

The city has not said when the transition period will end or what benchmarks Earthworks must meet to satisfy the $351,000 contract.