Fournace 610 exit closed until 2020

Plans to open key off-ramp in Bellaire delayed due to redesign

Drivers along southbound Loop 610 in Bellaire can forget about Fournace for a few years.

Plans to reopen the exit from the freeway to Fournace and Bissonnet were recently scuttled, according to Texas Department of Transportation, after utility relocation for the major interchange redesign took longer than expected. Instead of opening for a few months before closing again long-term, officials elected to just keep it closed until all the work is completed — estimated for summer 2020.

Work on the Interstate 69 and Loop 610 is expected to accelerate later this year, with preliminary work such

as utility relocation ongoing. The project makes all ramps between the two freeways two lanes, eliminates some wellknown bottlenecks at the choked interchange and rebuilds Loop 610 main lanes through the crossing.

TxDOT estimates the $259 million project will be completed in 2024.

Fournace, however, will open far sooner, TxDOT spokesman Danny Perez said. Initially, it was supposed to reopen in late January, but only until workers were ready for a long-term closing related to rebuilding the ramp from northbound I-69 to southbound Loop 610.

“We discovered that the utility work proved to be more involved than originally anticipated,” Perez said in an email.

The continuous closing will allow crews to work more quickly, including faster construction of sound walls along the freeway meant to keep noise out of nearby neighborhoods.

In the interim, however, the lack of the exit at Fournace has flummoxed trips, especially during peak commuting periods. Delays at Bellaire Boulevard, the next exit along southboud Loop 610, are common, said Dinah Reese, 62, who frequently drives in the area.

“And if you get off north of (I-69), you end up in the construction on Post Oak,” Reese said.

Perez said officials are monitoring traffic conditions, and in some cases will use police to direct traffic to clear backups. Though a lengthy headache

is expected for commuters during the years of construction, TxDOT and city officials have said the project will eventually ease congestion.

Loop 610 between Interstate 10 and I-69 is among the most congested freeway segments in the state, a condition partially blamed on the bottleneck at the interchange.

“This project is going to change that,” TxDOT Houston district director Quincy Allen said at a Nov. 20 kickoff for the interchange project.