TxDOT began the main phase of construction on the southside of Hempstead Road in 2018, though work in the area dates back to 2015. The $58.9 million project will widen a section of Hempstead from four to six lanes. Completion was once slated for early 2022, though several delays have pushed completion back.
“It is typical to encounter challenges and delays with projects of this magnitude, particularly when considering the coordination of plans relative to working in the vicinity of railroads where utilities need to be relocated,” TxDOT Public Information Office Leo Flores said.
What they're saying
The delays have been frustrating for business owners and residents in the area.
Kent Edwards has been the owner of the repair shop Motorcars Ltd. at 8101 Hempstead Road, Houston, since 1985. He said access to his business has been limited since February 2023, which has impaired his ability to sell the property.
In order to access the business when construction has shut down Hempstead, Edwards said drivers have had to use a detour that involves traveling down Old Katy Road, making a loop, going through a TxDOT building parking lot and entering through the back entrance.
"I’m 77 years old," Edwards said. "I had planned on selling this property and the business to someone to finish for retirement. It's been for sale for four years. My retiremeient if I have one, will be truncated. I have to sit here and operate my business in a diminished state while customers can’t find us."
TxDOT officials said the agency provides access to properties affected by roadway construction and has installed signs guiding businesses to Motorcars Ltd.
Katie Niemann, a Cottage Grove resident and member of the Cottage Grove Civic Association, said 18-wheeler trucks ofter drive through her neighborhood when Hempstead Road is closed, badly damaging the local streets.
“It’s a parade of 18-wheelers, bumper to bumper traffic, down the middle of our neighborhood,” she said. “It’s really damaged a lot of the infrastructure and it’s really unsafe.”
Niemann said she has asked project officials to do more to divert traffic away from the Cottage Grove, including by directing vehicles down 11th Street.
Flores said TxDOT posts detour signs around the project intended to keep drivers from cutting through Cottage Grove, but said actual enforcement and ticketing falls under the purview of law enforcement, not TxDOT. The signs, he said, instruct vehicles to detour by taking Hempstead to Post Oak Boulevard to I-10. Additionally, signs along local roads like Kansas Street read "local road only," Flores said.
Zooming in
Most of the remaining roadway work is at the underpass, Flores said. Work is now slated to be completed by the end of 2024, he said.
In addition to widening the road, the project entails:
- Grading, excavation and embankment work
- Sidewalks and curb ramps
- Storm sewer and culverts
- Signals at the intersections of 12th and 11th streets
- Three replacement underpass structures at the Union Pacific Railroad intersection
- Rail lines connecting to the tracks at the underpass structures
- A pump station to pump water out from the underpass during heavy rain events
"I think that it’s a ppint of frustration and exasperation for our neighbors. We’re just trying to grind it out until it’s done. I think that it’s a point of frustration and exasperation for our neighbors," Niemann said. "We’re just trying to grind it out until it’s done."
