Weekend road work promises triple-header of headaches
Emergency closure complicates jobs already scheduled near downtown
A planned long-term closing of the ramp from northbound Interstate 45 to northbound Interstate 69 downtown has turned into “the perfect storm” because of an emergency closing this weekend that poses a detour problem.
The ramp will close at 9 p.m. Friday, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. The ramp is scheduled to reopen June 1, in a new configuration for drivers, part of an overhaul of the interchange. To prepare for the longterm closing, crews also will close two lanes of I-45 northbound, starting at Cullen. Those lanes will reopen by 5 a.m. Monday. The lanes will then close again overnight on Monday and Tuesday.
“We’re making good progress on the long-term project,” said Deidrea George, spokeswoman for TxDOT in Houston.
The timing of that closing, however, will coincide with an emergency closing at I-45 and Interstate 10. Workers will close northbound I-45 from I-10 to Quitman and westbound I-10 from I-45 to Houston Avenue, starting at 9 p.m. Friday. The lanes will reopen by 5 a.m. Monday, then close again nightly until Thursday morning.
Together with a weekend closing of the ramp from Texas 288 to northbound I-45, the various job sites will make it difficult for drivers to avoid delays unless they detour around the areas altogether.
“It is like the perfect storm, they all came together this week,” George said.
All of the work will be getting underway by the time many residents are ready to leave Houston’s downtown holiday tree lighting ceremony, scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday.
The emergency closing is to repair damage from a truck that struck the I-45 bridge spanning I-10 in early November. Temporary work kept the lanes
“It is like the perfect storm. (The closings) all came together this week.”
Deidrea George, TxDOT spokeswoman
open in the interim, George said, but officials could not wait any longer on a permanent repair.
Officials said drivers should consider alternative routes and plan trips with online maps for the most current information.
George said the best way to detour the long-term closing of the I-45-to-I-69 ramp will be to continue north on I-45 and use eastbound I-10 to return to I-69, commonly known as U.S. 59 in the Houston area.
If there is a silver lining to all the work, it is that the I-45 and I-69 interchange remains on pace, albeit after a roughly two-year delay related to the original contractor walking off the project.
Workers with Williams Brothers Construction have spent months rebuilding the interchange, as part of the project to use Spur 5 — the connector from I-45 northbound to Houston’s central business district — as the link to I-69. In addition to downtown-bound traffic, the spur will be how northbound drivers on I-45 transition to I-69.
The project is estimated to cost $30.45 million and finish in mid-2019, once the new ramp to southbound I-69 and Texas 288 is built.
“We are trying to get some of these things done when we are out of hurricane season,” George said, noting drivers should see more work in the coming months.
Officials have said the redesign will improve safety and ease congestion along I-45 at the interchange by eliminating a weave where drivers must quickly get in the proper