It’s a complete rebuild of I-45 through the heart of the city.
HOUSTON — Drivers who travel through downtown Houston already know to expect major changes over the next several years, but that doesn’t mean they’re not frustrated with the construction happening right now.
We’ve been reporting this on KHOU 11 and we’ll continue following the Texas Department of Transportation as it moves forward with one of its largest projects yet — a complete rebuild of the I-45 and I-69 corridor through downtown.
“This project is massive,” said Danny Perez with the Texas Department of Transportation. “It will completely transform the downtown roadway system and go all the way up to Beltway 8.”
For decades, I-45 has cut straight through the heart of the city, but soon that will change. TxDOT says the freeway will shift from the west side of downtown to the east side, running alongside I-69 near the George R. Brown Convention Center. This redesign aims to straighten out curves and overpasses, helping traffic flow more smoothly through the downtown area.
“People want to see traffic improved,” Perez said. “They want to see congestion improved, so we’re trying to address that. But also we’re trying to address some of the concerns such as flooding through here, also some of the air quality issues that we see through the downtown area, so it’s really important to make sure we’re moving and getting traffic flowing through here.”
This project is expected to take more than a decade to complete. When it’s finished, the project will reshape how traffic moves through one of Houston’s busiest corridors. It’s part of a $9 billion effort to modernize the city’s highways and keep up with decades of growth.
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