According to TxDOT Public Information Officer Danny Perez, the $2.6 million project will reverse the existing entrance/exit ramp configuration to an exit/entrance configuration by shifting the new exit ramp south of the current entrance ramp. Perez said the project aims to ease traffic congestion the interchange's current design facilitates.
"Hwy. 249 northbound traffic exiting to Spring Cypress Road during the afternoon commute was queuing up back on the main lanes due to the close proximity of the exit ramp to the Hwy. 249/Spring Cypress Road signalized intersection," Perez said in an email. "This queuing created a bottleneck between motorists entering the freeway from Jones Road and merging into high-speed traffic on the main lanes."
Perez said the project is expected to add storage capacity on the Hwy. 249 frontage road for motorists exiting to Spring Cypress Road, thus eliminating the queuing back on to the mainlanes as currently exists. The project will also include the restriping of the Hwy. 249 northbound frontage road approach to Chasewood Park Drive, Perez said.
The project will require three months of daily ramp closures, Perez said. In the interim, northbound motorists wanting to exit Hwy. 249 at Spring Cypress Road will need to take the exit ramp just south of Louetta Road, and northbound motorists wanting to enter Hwy. 249 will need to take the entrance ramp either south of Louetta Road or north of Spring Cypress Road.
Timeline: April 20-July 20
Cost: $2.6 million (80% federal, 20% state)
Funding source: Texas Department of Transportation
