I-69 northbound to be closed this weekend
Work to rebuild ramps first in a series of messy summer detours
Traffic at one of the busiest interchanges in the state will get worse this weekend as crews close part of Interstate 69 at Loop 610 in preparation for rebuilding the ramps, the first of what is likely to be a summer of slowdowns and detours through the area.
The northbound lanes of I-69 at Loop 610 will close at 9 p.m. Friday and reopen by 5 a.m. Monday, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.
The detour will force northbound traffic to Loop 610 northbound, where drivers can make a U-turn at Westheimer and use southbound Loop 610 to return to northbound I-69.
The closing is needed to reconfigure the northbound lanes as workers prepare to build the columns that will support new ramps for the interchange. Workers are rebuilding the ramps from northbound I-69 to northbound Loop 610 and southbound I-69 to southbound Loop 610. Those are part of the rebuilding of all the ramps and the main lanes of Loop 610 through the crossing.
“This is paving the way for
that; we’re running out of room to work and so we know it will have an effect, but this is the next step in getting the project built,” said Danny Perez, the TxDOT spokesman for the interchange rebuild.
With the upcoming work, northbound I-69 will narrow from four to three lanes through the interchange. The fourth lane will resume just beyond the construction area.
Construction on the interchange began in late 2017, at an estimated cost of $263 million. Work is expected to finish in early 2024, but this summer will be when some of the most painful closings happen.
Next month, officials expect to close the ramps from south- and northbound I-69 to northbound Loop 610, so they can demolish them and build the replacements. Unlike the previous ramps that remained open as new ones were built next to them, Perez said crews have to destroy the existing ramps to the West Loop to build them in the same spot. Officials expect drivers to face detours for four to six months, Perez said.
Those closings, which will last months, will force drivers to detour onto frontage roads or local streets in the area, likely worsening traffic to maddening levels at peak times.
“We want to be mindful and want drivers to be mindful how significant that will be,” Perez said.
For many drivers, the closures and changes are reason enough to rethink their routes. Don Grant, 59, said Thursday morning he’ll leave the decision to Google Maps.
“I don’t go anywhere over there without punching it in my phone,” said Grant, who lives in Rice Village. “I’ll just do what it tells me and hope for the best.”