Houston Public Works, along with Council Member Abbie Kamin, announced the design plans for Westheimer Road and Elgin Street at a hybrid meeting March 14 hosted from the West Gray Multiservice Center and livestreamed on Houston Public Works's platform, Engage Houston.
The portions of these roads include Westheimer Road from Montrose Boulevard to Bagby Street, and Elgin Street from Milam Street to Main Street.
The proposed new look of both streets, which is estimated to cost $25 million, entails new measures to make them safer for pedestrians.
"The main goal of this project is to provide promote and improve safety, multimodal transportation and access to local businesses," said Temu Hiremath, Houston Public Works assistant director of capital projects.
This work that goes through Montrose Boulevard to Main Street entails:
- New lane configuration and pavement;
- Wider sidewalks;
- Pedestrian and bike crosswalks;
- New traffic signals;
- New street lighting;
- Improvements to the storm sewer system; and
- New water lines.
A portion of Westheimer Road from Montrose Boulevard to Taft Street would potentially receive 12-inch waterlines, an upgrade from the current 8-inch waterlines along this stretch.
These designs are subject to change; the final design should be complete by summer 2024, per Houston Public Works.
There is no set time for work to begin on this project as the estimated $25 million in funding has not been fully secured.
"One of the things that we've been trying to do is leverage dollars with all of the other levels of government, to go after all the any and all funding opportunities, leaving no stone unturned, to try to revive and bring to the forefront this critical infrastructure project that has to do with safety, mobility and just quality of life for one of the main corridors in District C," said Kamin.
