TxDOT to host next meeting for $11 billion I-45 reconstruction

A drainage project along St. Emmanuel will be the first work related to the reconstruction, which will rebuild and add managed lanes to I-45 north of downtown to Beltway 8 in Greenspoint. As part of the project, I-45 will also shift to follow Interstate 10 and then Interstate 69 on the north and east sides of the central business district.

In a statement, officials called the project “a cornerstone of the region’s sustainability and resilience,” noting that the planned improvements are aimed at relieving congestion by adding capacity while rebuilding the highway to modern safety standards.

Planned for about 20 years, the project has long been desired by commuters in the northern suburbs, but also sharply criticized by some nearby residents. Opposition has focused on whether widening the highway would further divide communities and lead to increased pollution in areas already choked by vehicle emissions.

“We want a project that doesn’t displace people, and we know that wider highways don’t relieve traffic,” organizers of the Stop TxDOT I-45 group said in a statement last month.

Despite the historic number of public meetings for the project, critics have also questioned TxDOT’s outreach efforts, noting that downtown meetings were held in smaller spaces, that online forums controlled which issues TxDOT addressed publicly and whether enough was being done to inform residents.

Unlike the previous round of meetings, the July session — while open to all — will focus on the downtown segment, not the parts of the project north of downtown. The meeting will also be in person only, with no online sessions planned as in previous meetings. Presentations in English and Spanish will be available, and officials said they will welcome translators for French, Arabic, Somali, Swahili and Kinyarwanda, a form of Bantu common in Central and East Africa, upon advance notice.

Under the federal agreement, TxDOT is required to hold two public meetings per year during development and construction of each segment.