Upper Kirby District Street Talk

In This Issue:

Westheimer Construction

US 59 Feeder Construction

Metro Seeks Public Input

Community Resources

City Council District C

City Council District G

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Upper Kirby District

Upper Kirby Update

June 20, 2014

Upper Kirby Construction

Work Moves East on Westheimer

Westheimer

Paving, Drainage and Streetscape Improvements Project:

Work continued this week on the second and third phases of work along Westheimer between Kirby and Buffalo Speedway.

Workers continue to push east from Eastside with both telecommunications and electric duct bank installation. Traffic begins to taper down to one lane eastbound around River Oaks Boulevard to get around the construction at Eastside. At this point, it appears that the contractor will be ready to move substantially to work between Ferndale and Lake and should be able to open up traffic from River Oaks Boulevard to Bammel on Monday.

Next week work will focus on bore pit excavation at several locations in preparation for telecommunications installation as well as open trench digging for the electric duct bank all the way to Lake Street.

As was the case east of Kirby, construction will be undertaken in 1000-foot segments. Work on this stretch will impact the two eastbound lanes on the south side of Westheimer. Traffic will be shifted to one lane in either direction through the construction zone. Each 1000-foot segment is expected to take four to five weeks to complete. Once a given segment is completed, it will be restored with asphalt and opened prior to the next segment beginning.

The contract duration on this project is 120 days putting completion somewhere around June/July 2014. Weather permitting, roadway construction between Kirby and Shepherd should be able to begin immediately following utility completion west of Kirby.

CenterPoint and the telecommunications companies will follow behind duct bank construction reconnecting services underground. The duration of this reconnection work will be up to the utility providers though 45 to 90 days is typical. Traffic impact during this work is negligible.

Once the utilities have been removed and the lines brought underground west of Kirby, Upper Kirby will move forward with drainage and underground infrastructure improvements followed by complete repaving of the roadway. The project will also entail the installation of a pedestrian-oriented streetscape similar to the treatment provided on the recent Kirby Drive and Buffalo Speedway projects. This work will first be completed between Shepherd and Kirby followed by an identical scope of work between Kirby and Buffalo Speedway.

Roadway reconstruction is anticipated to last approximately 10 months. Drainage improvement and roadway reconstruction between Kirby and Buffalo will immediately follow and will have a similar approximate duration.

For more information on Upper Kirby construction and related activities or for construction related issues or concerns, please contact Travis Younkin at 713.524.8000 or travis@upperkirby.org.

TxDOT Construction

On-ramps Between Edloe and Buffalo now Open
Inbound Kirby Exit and Outbound Buffalo Exit Closed

US 59 Frontage Road Reconstruction

TxDOT crews continued work this week on the reconstruction of the frontage roads on US 59 between 610 and Shepherd. Construction through the Upper Kirby area began last year with curbside lane reconstruction and has again ramped up between Shepherd and Weslayan with inside lane and u-turn reconstruction.

The inside lane outbound between Shepherd and Greenbriar was closed for work Thursday. Motorists should expect delays through this section. Inside lane closures are ongoing between Kirby and Greenbriar, outbound between Kirby and Buffalo and inbound between Edloe and Buffalo. That being the case, Richmond, Westpark, Alabama and Bissonnet are viable east/west alternatives to negotiate around the frontage road work.

Exits at Kirby inbound and Buffalo Speedway outbound remain closed this week. These exits are still on track to re-open as early as mid-week next week. The outbound on-ramp between Kirby and Greenbriar was closed Tuesday and will remain impacted for approximately two weeks. Traffic will have to enter the outbound freeway lanes via the Kirby on-ramp further west. Once these exits and the Greenbriar entrance are opened, crews will close the on-ramps at Kirby outbound and at Buffalo Speedway inbound for approximately three weeks. Work west of Shepherd Greenbriar on the outbound lanes has had a noticeable impact on southbound traffic on Shepherd. Consider alternate routes.

Following main lane and u-turn lane reconstruction, crews will begin intersection work. The current plan includes reconstructing two non-consecutive intersections at a time. The first two to be impacted will be Weslayan and Greenbriar. This work will likely not begin until mid July.

Look for weekly updates as this project progresses.

For a regularly updated list of lane closures and on and off-ramp closures, visit Houston Transtar here.

METRO Re-imagining Seeks Public Input

If you have a new business, development or community event that you would like included in the monthly Upper Kirby news, please contact us at 713.524.8000 or submit to streettalk@upperkirby.org

Requests will be posted subject to space availability and appropriateness of content.

Upper Kirby is a constantly evolving urban area marked by an outstanding location, great shopping, unique residential neighborhoods, smart development and a small town feel. It is an area of successful businesses, involved communities and a synergy between the public and private sectors. It is the heartbeat of Houston and everywhere you want to be.