HOUSTON — Houston drivers are going to need to get ready for another major closure at the I-69 Southwest/I-610 West Loop Interchange Reconstruction Project continues.
Starting on April 29 at 9 p.m., the Texas Department of Transportation will be closing the I-69 Southwest Freeway southbound connector ramp to I-610 West Loop southbound. TxDOT said the $259 million project is going to take approximately two years to complete.
“We’re four years into the project with two years left," said Danny Perez with TxDOT. "We’re getting close, but everything we’re doing now is – there’s going to be some impacts.”
“We’re making room not only for the new ramp we’re going to build but we’re also making room for the 610 main lane bridge that we’re building over 69,” he continued.
Perez said the closure is unavoidable as TxDOT plans to build a new ramp close to the footprint of the existing one. While the closure may be an inconvenience, it's all in an effort to improve traffic moving from one freeway to another.
“When you’re on the main lanes and you have that one person in the left lane and they need to get over to the right lane weaving over at the last minute we’re putting those connectors back – we’re putting those entrances back further – so they can make their decision further back,” Perez said.
On top of this, the Chimney Rock exit on the south side of Highway 59/I-69 Southwest Freeway will be closed for about two months.
TxDOT recommends drivers take the Fountain View exit ramp from the Highway 59/69 southbound main lanes, make a U-turn at Fountain View, get back on the first entrance to the Highway 59/69 Southwest Freeway northbound main lanes and take the connector ramp to I-610 West Loop southbound to avoid this closure.
“This interchange project gets us to a good place to keep traffic flowing through that area," Perez said. "There’s a lot of movement. There’s 300,000 cars on either freeway.”
"We’re getting close to moving to project forward to the finish line,” he said. "Once it’s opened up it’s going to be great for folks traveling through that interchange."