Houston highway construction

Houston, Texas, USA, with a city population of about 2.2 million and metro population of 5.6 million, has undergone ongoing construction to serve the many thousands of cars using the major freeways, most built in the 1950s and 1960s [ [http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-610_tx.html Interstate 610] , [http://www.katyfreeway.org Katy Freeway] , [http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-045.html Interstate 45] , and [http://www.geocities.com/usend5059/End059/end059.htm US 59] .] . The two decades were a time of expansion for Houston, and after the Interstate Highway System was established in the late 1950s, Houston shifted focus onto automobile transportation, leaving behind rail transportation. The freeways and tollways (bold if under construction) are:

*Interstate 610
*Interstate 10
*Interstate 45
*Beltway 8
*U.S. Highway 59
*U.S. Highway 90
*U.S. Highway 290
*State Highway 225
*State Highway 249
*State Highway 288
*Hardy Toll Road
*Westpark Tollway

Some other popular secondary highways and roads include:

*U.S. Highway 90 Alternate
*FM 1093 / Westheimer Rd.
*FM 1960
*Memorial Drive
*State Highway 99

These roads are meant to connect central Houston with many hundreds of suburbs outside the city.

The Katy Freeway: 2002-2009

The Katy Freeway, or the western stretch of Interstate 10 from Katy to Interstate 610, is under major renovation due to the exploding growth in the west Houston area. While Interstate 10 is a major freeway in the city, it has been overused by travelers and has not had any renovation since 1968. Over 240,000 vehicles use the freeway per day, yet the freeway only has six mainlanes, and including frontage roads, 10 lanes. By the time of completion in late 2008 or early 2009, it will be one of the largest freeways in the world with up to 18 lanes in some areas, assuming you are counting 4 lanes used to transfer to another hightway north and south, and another 2 lanes in each direction that run along side the highway and aren't actually a part of the highway. If you exclude these extra 8 lanes which are either not a part of the actual highway or are used only for transfer to another highway, the actual number of lanes would be 10.

Clearing land

In 1992, Union Pacific agreed to sell a convert|20|mi|km|sing=on strip of railway running parallel to the freeway for roughly $75 million to the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDoT). [ [http://www.houstonfreeways.com/ebook/Katy_Freeway_72ppi.pdf "Houston Freeways" Katy Freeway (I-10 West) History] Retrieved March 12, 2007] Over time, the freight railway was demolished, providing extra space for future construction. This was the first publicly seen part of the project.

Proof of a freight railway can be seen [http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=29.78614,-95.571023&spn=0.002021,0.003616&t=h&om=1 here] . A spur of the railway (the brown line down the middle) can be seen ending at a docking station near a Roomstore furniture store (the large building on the right). This is the only part of the railway left, probably owned by Roomstore.

In addition to the removal of the rail line, some extra land was cleared and leveled to provide space for extra mainlanes near Old Katy Road.

Construction

By 2004, new overpasses were under construction and supporting poles were being built. In 2005, concrete was finally laid in some areas, and the Beltway 8 intersection was making progress. Some sections of the new mainlines (going east only) were opened to the public in late '05, and westbound in the summer of 2006.

Also in 2006, some overpasses were almost completed and certain areas being painted near I-610. The continuing construction causes traffic and lane closures across the freeway. Since 2006, many areas of the freeway, including the I-610 junction and the westward branch out to the Katy area, have been completed. Areas from Silber Road near the 610 junction to Eldrige Road near State Highway 6 (a convert|9.65|mi|km|sing=on stretch) are still under heavy construction. Because of the continuing progress, there have been many large freeway closures throughout early 2008.

The Gulf Freeway: 2004-2008

To handle the large traffic flow to and from Galveston and NASA Johnson Space Center, projects on the Gulf Freeway have begun to partly rebuild the freeway, first incorporated in the 1950s.

Construction

The City of Houston only owns a small amount of land in the area, so the city's contribution to the freeway is limited. The city has covered a half-mile area with asphalt to smooth out the road, but hasn't planned to expand lane capacity.

Farther south, some new exit ramps and overpasses are under construction, but only a small amount. These projects are making slow progress, and it isn't known if any further projects, to demolish or build, are underway.

West Loop: Part I, 2003-2006; Part II, 2003-2008

To ease the heavy traffic around the Post Oak and Galleria areas south of Interstate 10, a large construction project to expand the Interstate 610 (the West Loop) is almost complete.

Construction

The focus of the freeway shifted to a different view, to provide a large, comfortable freeway for drivers and also improved architecture for the upscale uptown district.

The new freeway is seen as an expansion of the Katy Freeway Project, due to the similarity in architecture within both projects.

A very complex problem for drivers and builders, the project called for a very large system of exit and entrance ramps and a wide, smooth freeway. The largest problem was around the Memorial Drive/Woodway intersection, where traffic was clogged numerous times due to lane closures [Houston Chronicle's "Move It!" section, September 2006.] . Other areas included the Katy Freeway entrance ramps (both east and west), where both exits were closed many times for construction.

The project officially finished in September 2006, where mayor Bill White cut the opening ribbon on the Memorial Drive exit ramp. Some finishing touches continued afterwards, yet the I-10/I-610 junction is not scheduled for completion until December 2007.

Katy Freeway/West Loop Interchange

The I-10/I-610 Junction is going through a major renovation project. About three-quarters of this section is complete, yet the majority of the junction is still under construction.

Many major parts have been completed, such as the I-610 overpass, but other parts are not complete. The junction has been going through major delays ["Move It" section, and the Construction Overview section, Houston Chronicle November & December 2006.] , pushing the timetable a little bit further.Fact|date=February 2007

The beautification project for the junction has already started. Grass is being laid out in small quantities in some completed ares, and soon trees and bushes will be planted in late 2007.

tate Highway 99

Construction started on State Highway 99 in the early 2000s, as part of a plan to build a new loop around the Houston city area.

Located between George Bush Park and Katy, the highway will have the potential of becoming a major freeway for Katy residents traveling to George Bush Intercontinental Airport and other areas in north Houston.

Construction

The freeway is making slow progress north. Construction began in the late 1990s/early 2000s, and construction dates can be traced back to 1996 [Rand McNally Maps, Houston & Vicinity, edition 1996] .

The freeway's construction hasn't caused as much hype as the Katy Freeway because of its rural position, so not much else is known about the progress of the freeway.

Future projects

There are future projects which haven't been started yet. These projects are either in the stage of considiration or are being planned.

Interstate 69

During the expansion of Interstate 69 into Texas, the freeway could follow many possible routes in Houston. The most reasonable route is to follow the route of Highway 59, but this decision hasn't been confirmed yet. Other possible routes include Beltway 8 or Interstate 610.

In May 2008, it was reported that one of the possible final routes is to pass through the Sealy area, convert|47|mi|km west of Houston. The Sealy area is a small community located in rural Texas, and the planned path will have many farms and ranches demolished for the construction. The new route is under widespread opposition by residents because of the economic effect and the loss of land in the area. The Interstate 69 Texas project website ( [http://www.i69texas.org/ www.i69texas.org] ) shows a path overlaying U.S. Highway 59 has been chosen. While this is also criticized, it has not been confirmed as the path.

Hardy Toll Road

Discussion has already started on expanding the Hardy Toll Road, the strip of toll road running parallel to Interstate 45 (from North Houston to Interstate 610), into downtown Houston.

The advantage of this decision would be a fast traffic flow from downtown north to George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Even though discussions are showing a good chance of the plan, no construction plans or routes have been confirmed yet.

US 290

Reconstruction of US 290 from Interstate 610 to Beltway 8 is "next on the table" after completion of the Katy Freeway. [ [http://www.my290.com/index.htm Community Driven: US 290] . "Texas Department of Transportation." 2007. Last accessed January 16, 2007.] Current plans include an additional general-purpose lane in each direction, as well as HCTRA-managed toll lanes. The new toll lanes and HOV lanes are proposed to run along Hempsted Highway. Also, a commuter rail line will be built right next to the freeway.

Memorial Drive

Since the western area of Houston has experienced a boom in residents and businesses, TxDOT is currently planning to expand a large portion of the Memorial Drive thoroughfare from George Bush Park eastward to Gessner Road. Currently the road is only four lanes wide, and regularly experiences large backups in traffic, mostly due to construction closures on the Katy Freeway. This expansion was revealed by Houston's City Council member Palm Holm in a Nottingham Forest VIII/Westchester neighborhood homeowners' meeting in May 2007. The project is also listed on the City of Houston's “Street & Traffic 2008 - 2013 Capital Improvement Plan”. [ [http://www.houstontx.gov/cip/08cipadopt/execsummary/es-street.pdf City of Houston 2008 - 2013 Capital Improvement Plan] ] Construction on a 1.4-mile (2.2-kilometer) stretch of the path from Kirkwood Road west to Nottingham Oaks Trail is slated to begin in 2009. [ [http://www.westchesterhouston.org/rapArchive/May07rap.htm Westchester neighborhood news archive - May 2007] ]

ee also

*Transportation in Houston
*List of Houston highways

External links

* [http://www.katyfreeway.org/ Katy Freeway]

References