HOUSTON — The Fonde Civic Club held a community meeting Tuesday evening about a construction project that could affect several southeast Houston neighborhoods.
People living near the University of Houston are worried that the Spur 5 project will have a negative impact on them.
"It’s the surrounding neighborhoods -- we’re all going to be impacted by these projects. We just want to obtain as much information as possible," MacGregor Trails Civic Association President Paulette Wagner said.
Some are worried about the lack of community engagement from the Texas Department of Transportation.
Wagner said that many people living near UH are frustrated with the constant construction that rips through their community.
"It's about two miles from this gigantic connection that we have from 45 to 610. Why are you building another connector from 45 up two miles from the other connector?" Fonde Civic Club President Karina Blest said.
On Tuesday night, plans about the construction of State Highway 35, also known as Spur 5, the reconstruction of Old Spanish Trail and the rebuilding of the South Loop were expected to be shared.
"If you build, they will come -- and Katy Freeway is a national case and point that freeways eight to 10 lanes (wide) will not solve any problems," Blest said.
Some people aren't optimistic about the project and also don't like the back-and-forth about when construction will begin and who it will impact.
"Highway 35 ... when TxDOT started working on that, they bought up land in MacGregor Place, which is across from the subdivision MacGregor Trail, and took out over 100 homes," Wagner said.
The Spur 5 project broke ground in April of this year and is expected to be completed in 2026.