Call it creative, unconventional or even radical, but it\u2019s working, says Pollard, who grew up in Meyerland, blocks away from the area that\u2019s been plagued with negative publicity and criminal activity for at least 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pollard said the child\u2019s letter \u201cbasically stated that when she goes to and from school, she sees prostitutes everywhere.\u201d She asked the council member if he knew about the activity and if he cared.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you get a letter like that from a third-grader, it makes you want to do something,\u201d Pollard said. \u201cYou cannot sit by and act like you don\u2019t understand the circumstances and the experiences that they\u2019re living through.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
About three years ago, a Houston cop suggested placing temporary barricades on side streets to restrict access between the Bissonnet Track and hourly motels. The movable barriers were monitored by law enforcement officers in their patrol cars at a cost of about $60,000 in overtime pay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found that if we cut off the side streets where people were soliciting sex or buying drugs, they don\u2019t have anywhere to turn off at night,\u201d Pollard said. \u201cWe\u2019re also able to dictate traffic patterns that way. In certain areas, there\u2019s only one way in and one way out. It makes it very difficult for people to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you close up a business, you have no more customers,\u201d he added. \u201cWe basically closed off the streets, which were a business for people to buy sex and drugs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But what about emergency vehicle access and people who need to use the side streets to get home at night? Pollard says he thought of that and met with police and fire officials, business owners and HOA representatives. Alief ISD got involved and did a student cleanup project on the corridor. Everyone he talked to was supportive. \u201cEverybody signed off on it,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m shocked that we\u2019re able to do it, honestly,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we\u2019re probably the only area in the country that closes public streets as a strategy. We tried all types of things but this is something that worked. It was one of Houston\u2019s most notorious streets but it was also internationally known as a hub for prostitution and trafficking. We wanted to shut that down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The COVID-era funding for police overtime ran out, so Pollard and his collaborators got creative again. Now the barricades are permanent with gates that are closed and locked from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., seven days a week. <\/p>\n
Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones\u2019 office designed, constructed and paid for the fixed barriers at Bissonnet at Centre Parkway, Sugar Branch Drive at Centre Parkway, Centre Parkway at US-69, Plainfield Street at US-69, Alberene Drive at US-69, and Plainfield Street at Bissonnet.<\/p>\n
Briones said when the gates were unveiled in 2024 that the Bissonnet Track\u2019s proximity to schools prompted her team to take swift action.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThink of the number of students who walk to school every day and who might be at risk of being recruited and end up being trafficked,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is a danger that all of our children could face, whether they live in this area or other areas. We know, unfortunately, that this Bissonnet Track is one of the hotspots for human trafficking in the United States. That is unacceptable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Road-closed.jpg\")
Gated barriers are used to deter crime at six intersections along the Bissonnet Corridor. Credit: Office of Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones<\/p>\n