HOUSTON, Texas — Your coffee better have a lid on it when navigating bumpy Mykawa Road in southeast Houston.
"It’s getting worse and worse,” neighbor Thaer Lasultany said.
It's filled with dips and fractures and a bunch of temporary patches that many drivers try to bob and weave around.
“Mykawa Road is horrible,” neighbor Michael Ingram said.
Ingram and others said they’ve spent thousands on car repairs since moving into the new neighborhoods along the old road.
"I’ve had tires bust. I’ve had to replace my shocks," Ingram said. "My wife’s CV joints had to be replaced.”
"We sent a lot of emails, a lot of tickets we created through the 311 number," Lasultany said . "Like, “It’s in the process, It’s in the process.”
The city says 311 has received at least 74 calls about problems along Mykawa in just the last six months alone.
"I’ve actually had to travel down Mykawa Road myself,” said District D City Council member Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, who represents the area. "So I’m very aware of the potholes and condition of the infrastructure over there."
She told us a previous attempt to include the road in a major overhaul hit a dead end. However, according to an email we got from Houston Public Works, Mykawa is slated for rehabilitation.
In fact, the design phase is 90% complete.
"Certainly, with your help and the help of the people in that community, we can try and get that done,” Evans-Shabazz said.
It's something that can’t happen soon enough for those who carefully negotiate this worse for wear road.
“Just need a way to get safely to and from our homes,” Ingram said.
Below is Houston Public Works full statement:
"Houston Public Works owns and maintains 16,000 lane miles of streets across Houston. Houston Public Works is committed to consistent improvement of city streets through Build Houston Forward. It utilizes three methods of maintaining streets: repair, rehabilitate and reconstruct. Repairs are considered normal maintenance (pothole repairs, skin patches, etc.). Rehabilitation is more extensive improvements to extend the life of the roadway through panel replacements, overlays and ditch repairs. Reconstruction includes larger projects and significant street improvements that can involve replacing an entire portion of a street, including projects in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).
Mykawa Road has received skin patches and pothole repairs over the years. The current conditions show damage to the roadway larger than what is considered a pothole. Mykawa Road from Airport Boulevard to south City limits is scheduled for a rehabilitation project later this year. The project is currently in the design phase (90% complete). The design portion is set for completion Spring 2024. Construction will follow design completion in the Spring or Summer of 2024."