HOUSTON — The Texas Department of Transportation is asking for public input on making a booming stretch of I-45 between north Houston and Conroe safer and less congested.
They’re studying the 24-mile stretch between Beltway 8 and Loop 336 because of the corridor’s projected growth in population and employment.
KHOU 11 spoke with several people outside a gas station along that corridor Tuesday and they said they’ve noticed the traffic.
“It’s hell, bro,” said Angel Rodriguez.
“Sometimes it might be jammed up, full of accidents,” said Chiquita Joyce.
“Now even on the weekends the traffic is backed up,” said Bobbie Slocum. “Now whenever you see the license plates, you see people from all over.”
TxDOT is working on a solution from the ground up.
“We just want to get the community involved in the process from the very beginning,” said Emily Black, a spokesperson for TxDOT Houston.
Black says TxDOT considered public feedback from meetings in 2018 and 2019 for their study into possible fixes.
“Anything and everything is part of the discussion,” said Black, noting no changes have been decided on at this very early stage of the effort. “We are years out from any construction, any orange cones hitting the ground.”
Drivers have their ideas of how to improve congestion and safety along the corridor.
“It would be nice if the freeways were just a little wider,” said Slocum. “It would be even nicer if the train, the rail went all the way out there.”
“Fix the roads, like the dents and the cracks in the roads,” said Joyce.
“A bigger police presence,” said Rodriguez. “It’s a little dose of ‘act right’ for most of these guys.”
TxDOT held a public meeting Tuesday in Conroe at the Oak Ridge High School 9th Grade Cafeteria. On Thursday, there will be abother meeting at Hochzeit Hall in Spring from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
The presentations will also be posted online.
This project is separate from the North Highway Improvement Project, a controversial $9 billion rebuild of I-45 from Beltway 8 to downtown.