Meeting to cover plans for U.S. 59/Loop interchange

Public invited to comment on revised plans to improve traffic flow, safety

The Texas Department of Transportation will conduct a June 4 public hearing on plans to completely rework the interchange at U.S. 59 and Loop 610 to improve safety and reduce congestion.

Those plans previously included a 32- to 33-foot-high connector bridge from U.S. 59 northbound to Loop 610 southbound, which prompted an unhappy Bellaire city council to hire legal counsel and TxDOT to alter its plans.

The meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. at Bellaire City Hall and Civic Center, 7008 S. Rice Avenue. Displays including maps and other drawings showing the proposed project’s location and design will be available for viewing, according to the department’s public notice. A formal hearing will start at 6:30 p.m. Environmental documentation will also be available for inspection.

Residents are invited to make verbal comments at the meeting, and TxDOT will accept written comments for 10 working days after the meeting.

The proposed three-phase project would construct new connectors and access ramps, realign Post Oak Boulevard and reconstruct the Loop 610 main lane bridge, according to the notice.

The first phase would include building new direct connectors from US 59 northbound to Loop 610 southbound and then from Loop 610 northbound to US 59 southbound. The cost for that work is estimated at $130 million, TxDOT spokesman Danny Perez said.

Phase II would include constructing a new direct connector from U.S. 59 northbound to Loop 610 northbound and a direct connector from U.S. 59 southbound to the southbound lanes on the loop. The third phase would

be construction of a new main-lane bridge for the Loop 610 as it passes over U.S. 59.

Perez said the second and third phases are not funded but that the total costs for all three phases is expected to be around $310 million.

He said work on the first phase will likely begin in 2017.

Bellaire officials became concerned when they learned in late 2013 that TXDOT’s plans included having a two-lane direct connector from U.S. 59 northbound to Loop 610 southbound rising between 30 and 35 feet above ground level.

Mayor Phil Nauert reacted by calling the proposal “a nightmare,” saying he was concerned the connector as proposed could result in drivers looking down onto Bellaire homes and backyards and provide an ugly view for residents in that part of the city.

The city also objected to the plan because it would have eliminated the current exit from Loop 610 to Fournace Place for motorists coming off U.S. 59 north. In response to the plan, City Council in February 2014 hired the Blackburn & Carter law firm.

Firm representatives along with Bellaire City Engineer James Andrews, Mayor Phil Nauert, City Manager Paul Hofmann and Public Works Director Brant Gary began a series of meetings with TXDOT officials to work on a compromise.

The Bellaire proposal still includes the two-lane direct connector and the same vertical alignment, but the connector would come to grade as it enters Bellaire.

This new configuration will also accommodate a Fournace Place exit from the connector coming off U.S. 59 north, Andrews told the council March 23.

This new option, however, takes away the Fournace Place exit from motorists traveling south on Loop 610 from north of the interchange, Andrews said.

Those drivers will have to travel further on down and exit at Bellaire Boulevard and then make a Uturn if they wish to head back north.

This change will result in some level of increased load at the Bellaire Boulevard intersection. To accommodate this, Andrews said TXDOT is looking at the possibility of creating a double exit at Bellaire Blvd. and a double U-turn lane to enable drivers to loop back north.

More information about the June 4 public hearing and a map depicting the interchange construction work is available at txdot. gov.

On the home page, enter “Bellaire June 4” in the search bar at the very top right. Next, click on the link “Public Hearing - I-69 South/I-610 West Interchange.”

At the bottom of that page under “Downloads” is a link “Project Location” which includes a map depicting the project.