The details of an Interstate 45 project segment that would revamp the downtown Houston freeway loop system will be discussed in a public meeting hosted by the Texas Department of Transportation on Thursday.
According to the government, the significant $10 billion construction project will relocate Interstate 45 from the west side of downtown Houston to move parallel to Interstate 69 and Interstate 10 until it leaves the downtown area and heads north.
The Fifth Ward Multi-Service Center, located at 4014 Market St., will host TXDOT’s public hearing on Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m.
According to TXDOT, segment three of the project, which will be the main focus of Thursday’s public meeting, consists of a new system of exit and entrance ramps that would connect Interstate 45 with a number of downtown streets, enhancing access to the west side of downtown.
However, visitors to downtown can anticipate decades of development before the contentious infrastructure project is ready for vehicles, which could worsen already bad traffic problems.
The Pierce Elevated Highway will be removed as part of the rehabilitation, albeit the project might not be finished until 2042.
According to the government, the elevated I-45 that now runs along the west and south sides of downtown may be eliminated since it no longer serves a transportation purpose.
In October, after praising the need for the highway rehabilitation, municipal officials officially began construction on the much-discussed I-45 North Houston Highway Improvement Project.
The impact of the major roadway on disproportionately affected neighborhoods has been questioned by some. neighborhoods of Houston, such as Acres Homes and parts of the Fifth Ward.
Based on the facts, they are aware that their actions won’t improve traffic. Stop TxDOT I-45 member Chloe Cook made the following statement at the groundbreaking event. However, it is a brazen falsehood to claim that this is providing Houstonians economic wealth.
The Federal Highway Administration spent two years looking into environmental and civil rights complaints about the project, which calls for the relocation of hundreds of homes and businesses in low-income communities of color, and asked TxDOT to halt the project’s planning more than ten years ago in 2021.
RELATED: Harris County’s I-45 reconstruction is anticipated to begin in 2024 and conclude in 2042.
Since some firms that may be impacted by the highway project are planning to relocate, the interstate rehabilitation project has already had an impact.
The flagship of Houston’s famous Vietnamese restaurant, Kim Son, would eventually have to close to make room for the project after more than 40 years in the center of downtown and 32 years at its present Jefferson Street site.
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