Transportation
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ
Construction slated to start in 2024 on I 45 expansion project
The Texas Department of Transportation is expected to seek construction bids in mid-2024 for the rst elements of an I-45 expansion project with construction potentially starting in the fall. What’s happening The project involves adding four managed lanes on I-45 from Downtown Houston to Beltway 8 North as well as rerouting I-45 to be parallel with I-10 on the north side of downtown and with I-69 on the east side of downtown. Other elements of the project include bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure along frontage roads and cross streets, new trails parallel to bayous, and ood control elements, according to TxDOT information. While the $9.7 billion project has been touted as a way to improve safety and tra c levels by TxDOT and as a boon to the economy by business groups, it has drawn opposition from community advocacy groups and environmental groups that have expressed concerns about the displacement of existing businesses and residents, and the dispro- portional e ects it will have on communities of color in the project footprint. The project will require the displacement of roughly 1,400 homes and businesses, as well as places of worship, schools, commercial billboards and medical care facilities, according to TxDOT. The agency has programs in place meant to assist people with the relocation process. Zooming in At a Dec. 6 public meeting focused on the Downtown Houston elements of the project, TxDOT highlighted changes to the former plan that were made either based on community feedback or feedback from the city of Houston:
Segment 3 detailed look
Build new downtown connector to replace Pierce Elevated Reroute I-45 to be parallel with I-69; straighten and widen I-69 Straighten I-10, add two express lanes in each direction
Segment 1
Houstontians attended a public meeting hosted by TxDOT Dec. 6 related to the planned expansion of I 45.
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SHAWN ARRAJJ COMMUNITY IMPACT
Segment 2
• Extending Cleburne Street across I-69 to preserve a connection between Midtown and the Third Ward • Shortening the I-69 southbound frontage road to end at Cleburne Street, which provides bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure opportunities in the space where the frontage road would have been • Removing the proposed I-69 northbound frontage road between La Branch Street and Almeda Road, which provides another opportunity for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure • Extending North San Jacinto Street to connect with Naylor and Providence streets along the new I-10 alignment What’s next Additional public meetings took place in Decem- ber for segments 1 and 2, which involve widening I-45 between Beltway 8 and I-10 and implement- ing ood control measures around ood-prone
Segment 3
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SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION COMMUNITY IMPACT
neighborhoods, such as Independence Heights. Teams are doing design work on I-69 from Spur 527 to Hwy. 288; on a drainage outfall project under St. Emmanuel Street from McIlhenny Street to Buf- falo Bayou; and on the interchange reconstruction at I-69 and Hwy. 288. Construction is expected to start in the fall of 2024.
Sydney Womack
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