TEXAS CITY – The ongoing construction on the Gulf Freeway has been slowing drivers down for years, and bumper-to-bumper traffic heading to the beach is no fun.
Folks in Texas City are certainly feeling the construction headaches with the work on FM-1764 as the Texas Department of Transportation works on tearing down the bridge structures over Interstate 45.
Crews have expanded the Gulf Freeway up to the South Harris County line, and now the work continues further south into Galveston County with a current hot spot at FM-1764.
“...we have multiple 45 projects, all throughout the corridor, that’s going to be from the Harris county Galveston County line, all the way down to the causeway, so what we’re doing, is expanding 45 in multiple sections,” Danny Perez, Texas Department of Transportation.
All of this work is to improve traffic and make the Gulf Freeway a better evacuation route during severe weather.
Last month, marked a major milestone with the demolition of the existing I-45 Gulf Freeway northbound main lanes over FM 1764. This work is being done so they can build a new bridge to allow FM-1764 to continue under the main lanes of I-45.
“...we’re continuing the progress, we’re building out the structures that used to go over the main lanes of 45 --now they’ll go under 45,” Danny Perez, Texas Department of Transportation.
What drivers should expect:
- In the meantime, traffic switches are to be expected.
- Right now they’re focusing on the northbound side, so you’ll see traffic flowing in each direction on the southbound while they finish building out the new bridges.
- The same thing will happen on the northbound once work is ready to kick off on the southbound main lanes.
- “...it’s an active work zone, so slow down, there are reduced speed limits here, and the lanes are also a little tighter, which is why we reduced the speed limit. So slow down and drive accordingly,” Danny Perez, Texas Department of Transportation.
Cost?
- This stretch from FM-517 to FM-2004 alone costs $229 million, according to TXDOT, and is expected to be done by 2024.