Newramp opening at 610 and I-69

A major part of the new Interstate 69 and Loop 610interchange will open this weekend in Uptown, but with a downside for drivers for the first few months.

The new ramp from southbound Loop 610 to northbound I-69 will open sometime this weekend once crews complete the final changes, Texas Department of Transportation officials said.

Opening the newramp— which sweeps high above the crossing before depositing cars onto the north bound lanes near Newcastle — comes with a catch, however, for southbound Loop 610 drivers. Motorists typically are able to access the north- and southbound I-69 ramps from the right two lanes of southbound Loop 610, but as construction proceeds at the interchange those moving to I-69 will have to do so only from the right lane, TxDOT spokesman Danny Perez said. The other three southbound lanes will continue on Loop 610.

“We understand the lane reduction may be impact motorists traveling through the area, but this will give us the room needed to work,” Perez said.

The single-lane access is expected to last for the first few months of 2021, potentially to early summer, Perez said.

Even with two lanes headed to I-69, the spot is a major bottleneck on the freeway as drivers jockey for position as they move past the Galleria. During heavy traffic times, even as commuting remains depressed by the coronavirus pandemic, drivers can back up to the Hidalgo exit. Constricting to a single lane couldmake the delay — and drivers darting in — worse.

Work on the freeway interchange, by most measures the biggest bottleneck in Texas, started in 2017 and is about halfway complete, officials said. In the coming months, several parts of

the project are expected to open or reach the point they no longer impact traffic, including the new ramp from northbound Loop 610 to southbound I-69.

Like the work this weekend, however, openings also come with some closings.

Perez said crews in early 2021 will make significant progress on the ramp from northbound Loop 610 to northbound I-69, but that will require a lengthy closing of the existing ramp because it must be removed to build the new one. The same applies to the ramp from southbound Loop 610 to southbound I-69, which could close for up to a year as work proceeds.