A direct connector between Hwy. 249 and Beltway 8 is expected to limit a bottleneck and reduce accidents near feeder roads along the two freeways, Harris County officials said. The $35 million project will allow drivers to cross directly to the westbound lanes of Beltway 8 from the southbound lanes of Hwy. 249, eliminating the need to exit onto the Hwy. 249 feeder road. This direct connector opens to the public by Nov. 2. “[Motorists have been] changing lanes, fighting to make that difficult maneuver to get off the freeway and onto another feeder and onto another freeway,” Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said. “This will all be eliminated because it will allow them to safely and easily negotiate off [Hwy. 249].” The one-mile direct connector will take nearly 10,000 drivers off the feeder road, allowing for a smoother ride during peak traffic times and reducing accidents, said Gary Trietsch, Harris County Toll Road Authority executive director. “First and foremost we see it as a safety improvement,” Trietsch said at a ribbon cutting event for the project Oct. 30. “It’s going to take a lot of volume off of that intersection. [We’re hoping] the number of accidents goes down.” Although the community has long requested creation of this direct connector, it was initially delayed because of the hefty price, Cagle said. Construction for the project cost the county $23 million while securing rights of way cost another $12 million, Trietsch said. As the county’s population has grown, the increasing traffic volume and safety concerns made the direct connector a high priority, Cagle said. “When this piece of Beltway 8 was constructed, the volume of traffic did not justify the very high expense of this particular direct connector,” Cagle said. “This a very expensive project, which only became justified as we continued to grow and when the safety needs and the usage needs rose to a level to justify the expense.” This project’s completion will help businesses in northwest Houston, including some in Spring and Klein, because some customers will have an easier commute back to Beltway 8, said Barbara Thomason, president of the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce. WIllowbrook Mall, a large employment center in the area, is less than five miles from the connector. “Anytime you have a mobility project open up it has a positive impact on businesses,” Thomason said. “This is the right project. It has been requested by the public for many years, so we’re thrilled to see it happen. There was clogging down here, and it has been for many years. It was a source of frustration and impaired mobility.”