TxDOT officials break ground on $13 billion Houston highway project

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After years of delays, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) officials have broken ground on a monumental $13 billion highway improvement project in Houston. The North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP) will reconstruct Interstate 45 North between the city’s downtown and the North Sam Houston Tollway. The project is estimated to take 18 years to complete.

Houston’s current highway network cannot handle the city’s growing level of traffic demand. City officials estimate that daily traffic volumes will increase by up to 40% along the designated corridor from levels seen in 2015 through 2040. As traffic congestion remains a pressing issue, the NHHIP will help expand roadway capacity to accommodate the city’s growing population, provide a safe evacuation route, enhance mobility, increase safety and meet design standards.

The NHHIP is divided into Segment 1, Segment 2 and Segment 3. The groundbreaking was held to launch the start of construction for Segment 3B-1 in the East Downtown area and 3B-2 in the Midtown and Third Ward areas. This phase of the project will cover 12.3 miles of the city’s highway system.

The first phase will prioritize stormwater management, centering around installing 12-foot box culverts to direct stormwater and enhance flood resilience. TxDOT will spend $121 million to complete Segment 3B-1 by 2027. Work on Segment 3B-2 is set to begin in January 2025, with completion by 2030. The state will invest $695.5 million to build mainlanes, frontage roads and enhanced bike and pedestrian infrastructure along I-69.

TxDOT will spend an additional $5 billion to complete the remaining sections of Segment 3. These other sections will reconstruct portions of the downtown Houston loop system. The projects will involve building bike and pedestrian infrastructure, depressed main lanes, cap structures, arch bridges, realigned roadways and express lanes.

The state will invest approximately $1.6 billion in Segment 2 and $907.2 million in Segment 1. Plans for the NHHIP will include:

Adding four non-tolled managed lanes from Beltway 8 North to downtown Houston.
Reconstructing mainlanes and frontage roads.
Rerouting 1-45 in the downtown area to be parallel with I-10 on the north side and US 59/I-69 on the east side.
Building downtown connectors to increase access to the west side of the downtown area.
Realigning both I-10 and US 59/I-69 to remove the current roadway curvature.
Adding four I-1 express lanes.
Reconstructing an interchange to improve sight distances on direct connectors and replace outdated left-lane exits.
Connecting frontage roads with new intersections in Segment 2.
Building a frontage road lane in each direction in Segment 1.
Adding full-width shoulders.
Incorporating bicycle and pedestrian amenities on frontage roads and cross streets.
Building trails next to bayous.