I-610 SB onramp at Westheimer closing for construction, drivers prepare for traffic, delays

HOUSTON - At 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 3 the I-610 southbound entrance ramp at Westheimer will be closing for construction.

MORE: Months-long Houston road closure begins Tuesday night for interchange project

Drivers use that onramp to get from the Galleria to Houston's Southside, and to venues like NRG stadium and the astrodome, but starting for the next 9 to 12 months they'll have to find another way, and battle the traffic that comes along with this closure.

Danny Perez spokesperson for the Texas department of transportation says this is a part of the 69/610 interchange project, which aims to improve the flow of traffic on two of the busiest and most congested roadways in Texas.

"In order to do that we've had to rebuild connector ramps, we're also rebuilding and reconstructing the 610 NB and SB main lanes over 69, so we're going into the last 2 years of the project," Perez said. 

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Crews have set up a detour; people can take 610 SB and go to 69 going southbound, exit Fountain View, U-turn, and then go 69 NB and that'll take them to the 610 main lanes to go Southbound. However, Perez says there are other routes, and he suggests people who need to go 610 southbound at Westheimer or travel through that area, start planning ahead.

"I've got to find a different route because this is a common route, now I have to go the backstreets you know find different detours," said Jonathan Wright who commutes around the Galleria often.

Officials say they expect to see some incidents and traffic jams in the first two to three weeks while people get adjusted to this new closure.