290 Closed in Both Directions (Houston, Dallas: houses, construction, college)

[HoustonRonnie]

Transtar indicates that 290 will be closed in both directions between Mangum and Telge from August 29, 2010 to June 30, 2012. Alternate route suggested:

Take the backroads to IAH, catch a commuter flight from IAH to Dallas Love Field, then catch a flight from Love Field to Hobby and catch a cab from there.

Ronnie

[Watchful]

Depending on your destination...you could also fly IAH to CLL (College Station) and just backtrack your way - this works the best, if you simply maintain two vehicles, one in each location.

[chad.roper]

You could just use Bammel-North Houston or take Antoine to Little York then go on Fairbanks-North Houston. I used to work over there by 34th and 290 it was faster to take Bammel-North Houston to 249 than to take 290 to beltway 8.

[fnh]

Chad, I think this is a joke post. Certainly got my attention since I live off 290, but I can find no evidence of closure. And clearly the suggest detour is meant to be funny.

(Surprisingly, we don't find the traffic on 290 to be particularly onerous - inside the beltway, that is.)

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by HoustonRonnie

290 will be closed from 2010 to 2012.
Ronnie

Why do you post crap like this? Is there a point?

So 290 will be closed for two years? Yeah, that's likely.

[latetotheparty]

Actually, we in st. louis just survived 11 miles of one of our major east / west highways being closed for 2 years..... it was a choice of complete closure and get it all done in 2 years or the ever-painful lane closures as work progressed but spread out over 4-5 years......

there was much panic and gnashing of teeth and some people even sold their houses in the far-flung burbs and bought closer in to where they needed to be for work.... but overall, it really wasn't that bad......

now i KNOW that st. louis traffic is NOTHING like Houston traffic... just sayin' ..... something like a longterm highway closure is survivable.......

[jfre81]

The Southwest Freeway reconstruction put it out of commission, more or less, for a good while. Now that the whole thing has been rebuilt all the way to Sugar Land, it works well. For now.

The same thing might be the only way to fix 290. Yes, inside 8 it isn't horrible, but just outside is possibly the worst traffic anywhere in Houston or close to it. 290/1960/6 can be absolutely brutal, and 290 itself is probably the best part around there.

[pnc66]

Actually (and I don't know the exact dates) they are supposed to be widening 290. Last I heard construction was supposed to start at the Mangum end and gradually work its way out towards Telge (possibly further). Every once in a while I get a letter from a lawyer's office offering their services in the event my house will taken by eminent domain (290 is literally in my back yard, unfortunately). I understand the construction is supposed to last for a number of years (ugh!).

On a side note, the flight to Dallas and back to Houston would probably be faster than trying to navigate 290 to downtown during this construction mess. :-/

[pnc66]

Originally Posted by jfre81

The same thing might be the only way to fix 290. Yes, inside 8 it isn't horrible, but just outside is possibly the worst traffic anywhere in Houston or close to it. 290/1960/6 can be absolutely brutal, and 290 itself is probably the best part around there.

Yes it is brutal in that area. It used to take me longer to get TO the Beltway from Telge than all the way down the Beltway to 59 and Fondren when I worked in the Arena towers most mornings. I hated that commute.