Westheimer repaving zips along sans traffic
Without any of that pesky traffic in the way, road crews made quick work of repaving a long stretch of Westheimer and are zeroing in on completion of the 13month job in half the time.
Workers will spend the next few weeks painting lane markings and finalizing other details, but they finished the asphalt work along Westheimer from Loop 610 to Dairy Ashford in the past two weeks, Texas Department of Transportation officials said.
“We were able to finish that job in six to seven months’ time,” said Eliza Paul, district director for TxDOT in Houston, noting the ability to work around the clock and close numerous lanes at a time radically accelerated the work.
Crews are expected to wrap up in August, said Raquelle Lewis, spokeswoman for TxDOT in Houston. The $12 million project
did not have an incentive for finishing early, Lewis said.
Officials called the speedy completion an example of making the best of a bad situation as the COVID pandemic shut down businesses and kept many folks in their homes, significantly reducing traffic on area streets and freeways.
Around the region, overall traffic volume dropped to around 60 percent of the typical workday commute in many areas and by more than half on weekends.
Even as some businesses reopened in May, traffic remained between 10 percent and 20 percent below normal.
On major streets such as Westheimer, that lower traffic volume allows for more aggressive lane restrictions during the day — when work typically would not be scheduled to avoid gridlock.
Westheimer is, by many measures, Houston’s busiest street, carrying 67,000 vehicles per day east of Dairy Ashford. Only state highways and interstates in the region carry more cars and trucks daily.
TxDOT and Angel Brothers Construction, which won the job to resurface Westheimer, adjusted closure plans in April to take advantage of the decreased road demand.
Rather than shifting some of the most intensive work on nights and weekends, crews moved to a 24-hour schedule, enabling them to plow through the project by closing lanes for longer periods of time and for greater distances.
That allowed for much faster repaving by eliminating the need to open and close short segments and work practically block-by-block along the 8.8 mile route.
For drivers, however, the payoff is enormous even as many said Westheimer hardly was the Houston street most in need of a new layer of asphalt.
“I’m happy they can take advantage of the time,” said Dan Ruppert, 55, who lives in Uptown and often drives Westheimer. “It’s why I think they should do more work at night if they can.”
Similar to Westheimer, a number of major TxDOT projects are benefiting from decreased traffic during the pandemic, Paul said.
At Loop 610 and Interstate 69 just south of the Galleria, the reduced traffic allowed crews to accelerate construction and get painful road closures out of the way so they could hang beams for the rebuilt interchange.
The effect on the 2023 opening day of the massive interchange project, however, remains unclear as months of work remain.
With traffic still low, major closings are scheduled this weekend at the interchange, including a total closure of Loop 610 in both directions between Richmond and Westpark Tollway from 9.p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday.
TxDOT officials said travelers should avoid the area or seek alternative routes, if practical.
In addition to the freeway closing, the ramps from Loop 610 southbound to I-69 in both directions and from northbound I-69 to northbound Loop 610 will be closed.