Work to close I-69 at Loop 610

Hanging beams will hold up traffic around the Galleria this weekend, with both directions of Interstate 69 closed at Loop 610.

Crews will close I-69 at 8 p.m. Friday and reopen the lanes by 5 a.m. Monday, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Detours will send southbound and northbound traffic in different directions on Loop 610, where drivers can make a U-turn and return to I-69.

In addition to the freeway closing, the ramp from northbound I-69 to northbound Loop 610 and the exits from southbound I-69 to Weslayan and Westheimer will be closed. Numerous entrance and exit ramps surrounding the area will be closed.

Traffic is expected to be heavy along detours, and TxDOT said police will be stationed to control traffic when needed.

The closings are necessary to allow crews to hang support beams for the main lanes of Loop 610 spanning I-69. As part of the project, now estimated to cost $270.4 million, workers are rebuilding the main lanes of Loop 610 and all of the connection ramps between the two freeways.

By many measures, the interchange is the biggest bottleneck in Texas. Making all the ramps two lanes is expected to improve movement through the crossing. Rebuilding some ramps, however, will mean long detours for drivers as the old ones are demolished and the replacements built, including the southbound I-69 to southbound Loop 610 ramp that has been closed for nearly one year.

TxDOT spokesman Dany Perez said the new ramp could open later this year.

Construction, which started in 2017, still has more than one year left, though portions of the project will continue opening as they are completed.

For updated statuses of the closing and others, go to Houston TranStar.