Sam Houston Tollway repairs to last at least a week.
Drivers will endure at least another week without a key part of the Sam Houston Tollway, as the start of schools in the Houston area is likely to reshuffle traffic that already has brought some people to the breaking point.
Repairs to the tollway where concrete buckled and a large sinkhole appeared along the frontage road will take at least a few days, officials said Thursday. They got a good look at what Tropical Storm Harvey left behind below the floodwaters, only after pumping out waters that spilled from Buffalo Bayou.
In the depressed section of the tollway near Boheme, south of Interstate 10, the concrete panels shifted along the southbound main lanes under the water, said John Tyler, deputy director of engineering for the Harris County Toll Road Authority. Crews began busting through the pavement to inspect the surface below.
“We will have to replace several lanes of pavement,” Tyler said. “We’ve got to get the pavement removed so we can see what’s under it.”
That inspection ultimately will determine how significant the damage is, and how long it will take to rebuild the tollway and open it fully to traffic.
The damage was limited to the southbound lanes. The northbound lanes were reopened about 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Traffic on Houston’s west side has been slowed this week by a combination of changes in travel patterns, the loss of the
tollway, inoperable traffic lights and other road closures around the area.
Tyler said the best-case scenario would be for the tollway to open sometime next week.
“The worst-case scenario, I would not want to put a limit on it,” he said. “We are waiting to see.”
Cost estimates for the repairs were not available Thursday.
Meanwhile officials with the Texas Department of Transportation predict crews will fix a massive sinkhole in the same spot at Boheme along Beltway 8, which acts as the tollway’s frontage road. Dirt behind the retaining wall for the tollway, below the frontage road, eroded in a spot about the size of a 15-passenger van. The soil likely washed away through the retaining wall, TxDOT spokeswoman Karen Othon said.
‘Just get it open’
Workers with Williams Brothers Construction will cut out the pavement, refill the hole and then rebuild the road atop it. The work is expected to cost about $150,000, Othon said. The repairs should take about a week, she added, though the favorable weather and forecast have officials optimistic they could beat the estimate.
Commuters also are hoping for the best, as the progress promises to help return traffic to normal.
“Work around the clock, whatever,” said Tony Nguyen, as he filled his Lexus’ gas tank at a nearby Shell station Thursday. “Just get it open as soon as you can.”
Officials blamed flooding in Buffalo Bayou for forcing water onto the depressed portion of the tollway. One of two pump stations for the section stayed operational the entire time, but was unable to handle the deluge.
“It was just recirculating water,” Tyler said, noting Buffalo Bayou was well outside its banks, so any water was just dropping back onto the tollway.
Tyler said Harvey is the only storm he is aware of in which rains and flooding were severe enough to close the segment.
The Mission Bend neighborhood along the tollway remained a murky mess, with residents still hauling large piles of debris to the curbs. Roads in the area were flooded and only accessible to residents, many of whom had posted signs saying “STAY OUT” and “KEEP AWAY” in their yards.
The tollway is the most significant roadway damaged because of the flooding and storms. In addition to the sinkhole, TxDOT on Thursday also was rebuilding FM 762 in Rosenberg where a culvert collapse washed the road away with it.
Officials still are assessing many local streets and roads for damages, but nothing significant has been noticed. A Houston Public Works spokeswoman said a culvert collapsed at Westheimer and Jeanetta, between Fondren and Gessner.
As officials have scrambled to repair segments and assess damages, drivers in many parts of Houston have suffered through miserable traffic that in some cases has turned 30-minute commutes into two-hour slogs.
The loss of Memorial Drive has severely impacted downtown access from the west within Loop 610. The segment of the loop in Uptown — already among the most congested roadways in the state — is handling more traffic as people detour around the tollway closing.
That could be complicated further by the start of many area schools, scheduled for Monday. The Houston Independent School District, the region’s largest, will open 202 of its 284 schools on Monday. Others will follow for the next two Mondays, with some students sent to other campuses because their regular schools were severely damaged by the storm.
Consider alternatives
The return to busing and ferrying youngsters to school will have an effect on travel patterns already reeling from the changes resulting from some residents who are living elsewhere while they wait waters to recede or home repairs to be completed.
With all the uncertainty, transportation officials said preparation is going to be critical for drivers.
“They are going to have to leave early,” Tony Voigt, a senior researcher based in Houston with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, said Tuesday. “Think about working from home or using transit.”
Metropolitan Transit Authority has added buses to some park and ride routes in anticipation of higher use, spokesman Jerome Gray said.