Crosby Freeway

[CrosbyResident]

I don't really know if this is the right place to post this topic but there was nowhere else that seemed to be the right spot.... Anyways, hello all! I was just wondering if anyone knows the status of the Crosby Freeway. Does anyone know an anticipated opening date. Commuting from Crosby to Downtown is not a traffic nightmare or anything like 290, but it is a small hassle to have to take the freeway to the Beltway, and then to I-10 to get into Houston. I know work has been going on near Wallisville and Lake Houston Pkwy since about '06.

[JLWM8609]

This link says it'll be complete in September 2010, but the ramps added at the interchange with 610 and I-10 should be complete later this year.

http://www.beloblog.com/crimewatch/2007/04/when_will_the_crosby_freeway_e.html

[AtticaFlinch]

Awesome. Another freeway that dead ends at 610. I don't foresee any future issues with that at all. Not at all.

[intencity77]

Awesome. Another freeway that dead ends at 610. I don't foresee any future issues with that at all. Not at all.

Trust me, the people here in the North Channel, Lake Houston and Crosby areas will benefit gratefully from this much needed extension of US90 and I believe it will serve it's purpose successfully for the time being, so I don't foresee traffic levels as in the Northwest Freeway, which is another "dead end freeway." But I have read that this is the next area to develop heavily in the coming years, as large vacant tracts of land around the city are filling to capacity, much as the Pearland area has developed due to it's close proximity to downtown and the inner city. The North Channel area is generally about 15-20 minutes from downtown. I have lived out here since I was a kid and I have never seen so much new development in this area as now. Construction is also continuing on the mainlanes of the Sam Houston Tollway. National retailers such as JC Penney, Best Buy and Marshall's have all just opened shop this month on BW8. And restaurants such as Olive Garden and Chipotle are coming, i've read. There is also plans at the intersection of the new Crosby Freeway and BW8 for movie theaters, a home improvement store and a very large format grocery store. All this plus new roofs continue to be built even in the face of a bad economy. So I definitely see the new Crosby Freeway changing this area a lot more in the future and it will be great not having to use the creepy old Beaumont Highway or I-10 East to get to civilization. hehe.

[TheNiche]

Awesome. Another freeway that dead ends at 610. I don't foresee any future issues with that at all. Not at all.

It doesn't dead end. The interchange at I-10 East (East Freeway) and 610 (East Loop North) is being rebuilt to add ramps to and from US 90. It'll be a seemless five-way interchange (unlike US 290, US 90A, or SH 225).

[JLWM8609]

I know that some people prefer to take US 90 to Beaumont instead of I-10. With construction going on near Wallisville on I-10 and this new section of US 90 freeway opening up, will this make US 90 a practical alternative to I-10? Practical meaning that there isn't much of a time traveled difference in using either highway. As it stands now, taking the current beginning of the US 90 freeway to Beaumont from the center of Houston via I-10 to the Beltway to US 90 takes about 89 miles and a few feeder roads and traffic lights. The traveling distance on I-10 is just two miles shorter at 87 miles. Once this new freeway is completed, a few traffic lights will be eliminated, but I don't know if their elimination will be enough to make the trip quicker.

Edited October 6, 2009 by JLWM8609

[LTAWACS]

It'll be a seemless five-way interchange (unlike US 290, US 90A, or SH 225).

Famous Last Words.

[TheNiche]

Famous Last Words.

Heh, yours or mine?

[totheskies]

I drive by this area when I have fre time just to see the progress... it's looking really good right now.

But they don't need to build it past 610... 290 is backed up b/c over 1 million people live along that corridor it's been "unbearable" for a very long time. This is a brand new corridor, and I doubt that it will grow even as fast as Pearland (though I guess you never really know). But it's encouraging that we're developing more areas that are inside the Beltway instead of continuing to just sprawl way outside of the city and county. Plus this is going to increase tax revenues on the east side and help bring some much needed improvements to the infrastructure there. Again, nothing wrong with that.

LOL... I'm normally the last person to be in favor of more freeways, but this is a good project for Houston's east side. As a former Northshore resident and possible teacher at San Jac North, I'll be glad to see some more focus thrown into the area (even at the expense of some more Harris County parkland )

[JLWM8609]

I drive by this area when I have fre time just to see the progress... it's looking really good right now.

But they don't need to build it past 610.

A lot of people don't know this, but a US 90 freeway already exists past 610. US 90 is multiplexed with I-10 all the way to Katy.

[AtticaFlinch]

Northeast Houston is really the last of the major (relatively) undeveloped quadrants in the Houston area. It won't take long for 90 to be just as backed up as 290, and when that happens, city planners are going to wish earlier planners had the foresight to build the freeway past 610. I bet this intersection ends up less like 290 and more like that 288/59/45 clusterfart though. What a mess that area is around 5 PM.

[JLWM8609]

It won't take long for 90 to be just as backed up as 290, and when that happens, city planners are going to wish earlier planners had the foresight to build the freeway past 610.

Like I said before, US 90 already exists in freeway form past 610. If anything else needs to be done, it would be the widening of the current I-10/US 90 freeway, not an all new freeway.

[TheNiche]

Northeast Houston is really the last of the major (relatively) undeveloped quadrants in the Houston area. It won't take long for 90 to be just as backed up as 290, and when that happens, city planners are going to wish earlier planners had the foresight to build the freeway past 610. I bet this intersection ends up less like 290 and more like that 288/59/45 clusterfart though. What a mess that area is around 5 PM.

I suspect that you either haven't read the above comments, haven't understood them, or haven't seen a map of the alignment of the new section of freeway.

It is not like US 290. It does not intersect with and dead-end at 610. The terminus of that segment is a four-way interchange where I-10 and 610 currently meet that will be a five-way interchange when construction is complete; US 90 is the same as I-10 from there into downtown and there is not a shorter alternative alignment as the crow flies. If congestion gets to be a problem inside the loop, the one and only solution is to expand I-10.

Moreover, while I agree that the northeast quadrant is the next Pearland-type growth situation, it will most likely develop more slowly out that way, given that Pearland has better access to high-paying jobs throughout west Houston. I don't think that the northeast quadrant will really explode until US 90, the northeast segment of Beltway 8, and the northeast segments of the Grand Parkway are all complete.

[AtticaFlinch]

I suspect that you either haven't read the above comments, haven't understood them, or haven't seen a map of the alignment of the new section of freeway.

It is not like US 290. It does not intersect with and dead-end at 610. The terminus of that segment is a four-way interchange where I-10 and 610 currently meet that will be a five-way interchange when construction is complete; US 90 is the same as I-10 from there into downtown and there is not a shorter alternative alignment as the crow flies. If congestion gets to be a problem inside the loop, the one and only solution is to expand I-10.

Moreover, while I agree that the northeast quadrant is the next Pearland-type growth situation, it will most likely develop more slowly out that way, given that Pearland has better access to high-paying jobs throughout west Houston. I don't think that the northeast quadrant will really explode until US 90, the northeast segment of Beltway 8, and the northeast segments of the Grand Parkway are all complete.

Agreed with the last comment, and as for the first comment, I haven't seen a map which is probably why I've got little faith in this. Your description has 10, 610 and 90 all intersecting at one point. That's a pretty crappy area at rush hour already, and that was even before any construction began there.

And, JLWM, where exactly are you talking about? Are you talking about on the west side of Houston, or are you talking about past (east) of 610 on the east side of town? I already knew about both. I suppose I'm not describing what I'm understanding this to be well.

[TheNiche]

...as for the first comment, I haven't seen a map which is probably why I've got little faith in this. Your description has 10, 610 and 90 all intersecting at one point. That's a pretty crappy area at rush hour already, and that was even before any construction began there.

Check out the alignment here. Other parts of the Houston Freeways website (and book) explain that the original junction of I-10 and 610 had little nubs from the ramps that were originally intended to hook into the Crosby Freeway, just that they waited so long to build the Crosby Freeway that by the time they got around to it, the interchange had to be reconstructed again.

There will be a slightly more complicated five-way interchange at I-10 and US 59 if the Hardy Toll Road is ever extended to downtown. Little nubs already exist from the ramps to accomodate that modification, too.

[20thStDad]

Neat, an easier alternative to take when they do the inevitable reconstruction of I-10 again.

[Justin]

I know that some people prefer to take US 90 to Beaumont instead of I-10. With construction going on near Wallisville on I-10 and this new section of US 90 freeway opening up, will this make US 90 a practical alternative to I-10? Practical meaning that there isn't much of a time traveled difference in using either highway. As it stands now, taking the current beginning of the US 90 freeway to Beaumont from the center of Houston via I-10 to the Beltway to US 90 takes about 89 miles and a few feeder roads and traffic lights. The traveling distance on I-10 is just two miles shorter at 87 miles. Once this new freeway is completed, a few traffic lights will be eliminated, but I don't know if their elimination will be enough to make the trip quicker.

I live in Beaumont and I take 90 to/from Houston about half the time I make the drive. The travel time is about the same... maybe a five or ten minute difference. The only real slowdowns I've encountered on 90 are if I hit Liberty or Dayton around quitting time, and even then it's not that bad.

[JLWM8609]

And, JLWM, where exactly are you talking about? Are you talking about on the west side of Houston, or are you talking about past (east) of 610 on the east side of town? I already knew about both. I suppose I'm not describing what I'm understanding this to be well.

What I'm saying is that a US 90 freeway already exists inside of 610. Your point was that the US 90 freeway should be continued inside the loop, but it already does that because US 90 follows I-10 from the East Loop to Katy. That means technically, your US 90 freeway inside 610 already exists, though it shares that designation with I-10.

[totheskies]

Agreed with the last comment, and as for the first comment, I haven't seen a map which is probably why I've got little faith in this. Your description has 10, 610 and 90 all intersecting at one point. That's a pretty crappy area at rush hour already, and that was even before any construction began there.

And, JLWM, where exactly are you talking about? Are you talking about on the west side of Houston, or are you talking about past (east) of 610 on the east side of town? I already knew about both. I suppose I'm not describing what I'm understanding this to be well.

Yeah, but take a look at that map of the interchange again... compare it to the same area around 290, then the same area around 288. Completely different worlds at this point. The whole northeastern quadrant of Houston(inside the Belt) doesn't even scrape up 150,000 people, and you're comparing it to an area like 290 which is easily 10 times the size. That's not gonna happen overnight... no way no how. Northeast Houston doesn't have any of this stuff... 225 and I-10 east barely back up as it is unless there is a wreck that blocks traffic lanes, and that's including THE employment corridor for the whole eastern side (the refining area). So aside from refineries and the port... what other major employment centers are on the east side?? They just got a freaking Best Buy last month!!!

It's going to be 20 years at least before this area bares any similarity to today's Pearland, much less any part of 290.

[Melwood]

I work at the intersection of 610/10E, and have been watching the interchange construction from my window for some time now. I am quite sure that the original 610/10 interchange was built from the start to accommodate this crosby freeway.

It will not be a true five-way interchange. Access to the new crosby fwy will be from I-10E, East loop heading north, and possibly east loop heading south. Not sure about that last part, it's hard to tell with the mess. For sure, you can't be heading west on I-10 and U-turn to the new freeway. Also, coming in from Crosby, you can keep going E on 10, or go S on 610. I don't see a ramp letting incoming traffic up over to the east loop heading north, and you definitely won't be able to turn back out to I-10E.

I can also say there is a LOT of space up in this quadrant, some of it quite wooded and pretty, it's hard to believe so much emptiness still exists inside the beltway. As for the comment about the road stopping at 610, I ask which neighborhoods should be demolished to make way. I think enough land inside the loop has been taken away and paved over to help people move in and out of the metro area by now.

[TheNiche]

I work at the intersection of 610/10E, and have been watching the interchange construction from my window for some time now. I am quite sure that the original 610/10 interchange was built from the start to accommodate this crosby freeway.

It will not be a true five-way interchange. Access to the new crosby fwy will be from I-10E, East loop heading north, and possibly east loop heading south. Not sure about that last part, it's hard to tell with the mess. For sure, you can't be heading west on I-10 and U-turn to the new freeway. Also, coming in from Crosby, you can keep going E on 10, or go S on 610. I don't see a ramp letting incoming traffic up over to the east loop heading north, and you definitely won't be able to turn back out to I-10E.

I can also say there is a LOT of space up in this quadrant, some of it quite wooded and pretty, it's hard to believe so much emptiness still exists inside the beltway. As for the comment about the road stopping at 610, I ask which neighborhoods should be demolished to make way. I think enough land inside the loop has been taken away and paved over to help people move in and out of the metro area by now.

OK, so it's kind of like I-45 South at 610, where going from Southbound I-45 to westbound 610 or from eastbound 610 to northbound I-45 requires use of feeder roads. That's not terrible.

[GovernorAggie]

Um, while I agree the the Crosby Freeway looks good and will be a help, my problem is that it will funnel traffic to what I think is the most neglected part of I-10. Yes, they did a recent resurfacing, and I'm normally not one to advocate freeway widenings, but IIRC the RTP doesn't have any I-10 East widenings planned at least until the 2020s, so hopefully that will be just in time to meet the inevitable traffic increases.

By the way, wouldn't Crosby be the last new controlled-access facility here that will be a "free"way?

[CrosbyResident]

Yes, I think it is supposed to be a freeway... Or at least I am hoping it is. And yes, the interchange at I-10 and 610 was built for the future connection with the freeway, because there were stub-outs on it. Anyway, I'm glad to hear that 2010 will be the new opening date. I can't wait for that reduced ride to work.

[TheNiche]

Um, while I agree the the Crosby Freeway looks good and will be a help, my problem is that it will funnel traffic to what I think is the most neglected part of I-10. Yes, they did a recent resurfacing, and I'm normally not one to advocate freeway widenings, but IIRC the RTP doesn't have any I-10 East widenings planned at least until the 2020s, so hopefully that will be just in time to meet the inevitable traffic increases.

By the way, wouldn't Crosby be the last new controlled-access facility here that will be a "free"way?

The 2020's are only 10.25 years away. I don't forsee a huge problem by then--explosive Pearland-like growth is still a ways off--and if the experience proves me wrong I also don't anticipate that 5th Ward will be so gentrified or politically-connected that expansion of the I-10 trench would be a political impossibility.

[JLWM8609]

By the way, wouldn't Crosby be the last new controlled-access facility here that will be a "free"way?

You're correct.

[Melwood]

OK, so it's kind of like I-45 South at 610, where going from Southbound I-45 to westbound 610 or from eastbound 610 to northbound I-45 requires use of feeder roads. That's not terrible.

I haven't seen them building the appropriate feeder roads on the new Crosby freeway, it looks feeder-less, at least right now. The present feeders at the east loop/I-10 are not continuous in that if you're on the feeders approaching the interchange, you cannot pass under/over the interchange - this makes navigating around the roads surrounding the interchange a pain. I'm still scratching my head regarding the apparent limitations regarding the directions you can approach and depart the Crosby freeway. In short, it looks to me like people who don't know the interchange are going to find themselves heading in directions they didn't intend, with no obvious way to correct course.

By the way, as a correction to my previous post, you cannot go from the east loop heading south over to the crosby freeway outbound. It looks to me like they could have incorporated that ramp, but didn't.(?)

[dp2]

I could be wrong, but get the impression that east/southbound 610 traffic to the Crosby Fwy will initially be directed via the feeder roads, 610 to I10 east then exit and u-turn under the freeway to the westbound feeder, and finally a right turn onto the Crosby feeder. Westbound will exit the Crosby Fwy to the feeder which then turns west and north to the 610 feeder. Cheaper and no lights or stop signs required, just signs. But that is just a guess.

IMHO the outlook for development out there has changed drastically in the last 2 years. It appears that a lot of the planned subdivision for Crosby and east were primarily entry level homes, and that segment was hard hit by the mortgage scams implosion. If Cap and Tax gets passed and the admin requires tougher emissions regs on refineries (there's an article in the Chron today on this) it could be a long time before that area really takes off.

[Justin]

Somewhat random, though semi-related question: Yesterday afternoon I was in the area of the Beltway and the Crosby Freeway and I noticed columns going up, I'm assuming to carry the Beltway over the interchange. When did construction on that start? It surprised the heck out of me to see them there!

[JLWM8609]

Somewhat random, though semi-related question: Yesterday afternoon I was in the area of the Beltway and the Crosby Freeway and I noticed columns going up, I'm assuming to carry the Beltway over the interchange. When did construction on that start? It surprised the heck out of me to see them there!

Construction on that last leg of the Sam Houston Tollway began about a year ago.

[Justin]

Construction on that last leg of the Sam Houston Tollway began about a year ago.

Oh, ok. I just hadn't noticed it before Wednesday, I suppose. I don't go that way much, after all... Edited October 23, 2009 by Justin

[Rehan]

I was in Beaumont on Tuesday for work and decided to drive back on 90 just to change things up. So does anyone know when the new section opens up? It looks like its getting really close to completion, from the parts I saw anyways, but I couldn't find any info on it opening.

Yeah I know, way to resurrect a 10 month old thread...

[CoogieHowlser]

I was in Beaumont on Tuesday for work and decided to drive back on 90 just to change things up. So does anyone know when the new section opens up? It looks like its getting really close to completion, from the parts I saw anyways, but I couldn't find any info on it opening.

Yeah I know, way to resurrect a 10 month old thread...

Completion date is February 2011, according to the Highlands Star.

[JLWM8609]

I heard on the news last night that the westbound lanes from BW 8 to 610 are supposed to be open.

[emanthehouseboy]

I live just about a mile and a half from the freeway. So far, between Maxey/Wallisville and Uvalde those feeders have been completed. Yet, there are still a few gaps in between with that section--the Greens Bayou bridge and the future strip near the future extension between Purple Sage. I've driven near that section and to my best estimate...it looks almost ready. Where Greens Bayou is, I think they're clearing the area so that they can start construction on the bridge...

*LAUGHS* I know, this is my very first post for this forum, but I have been paying very close attention to the way this freeway is being constructed since it started, and as a result, it could bring some serious improvements to North Shore and force its redevelopment. If only they'll pave the roads connecting to US 90. [e.g., Normandy, John Ralston/Holland, Woodforest, and Mercury/Oates].

In the meantime, both NS and H-town need to figure out a plan to redevelop Herman Brown Park since it sits in the path of US 90...

[emanthehouseboy]

Folks, this morning I drove on the westbound lanes of US 90 for the first time...it looked small, but it works!

Monday, they're going to cut the ribbon to open up the eastbound lanes. I found this out via, TheVindicator:

Crosby Freeway Ribbon Cutting, Monday 1/24 @ 10 am

[emanthehouseboy]

UPDATE: Folks, it looks like the eastbound lanes of the Crosby Freeway are officially open!

I just drove on it a few minutes ago...from the eastbound direct connector up to just over Beltway 8. It's bummer that the Greens Bayou bridge and the future Purple Sage overpass won't be built--due to lack of funding...but it's a start in the right direction.

Maybe, someone can get some snapshots of the new freeway in a future reply...

Northeast Harris County, ready or not, your new freeway IS HERE!!!

[emanthehouseboy]

Guys, guys...great news!

Katherine Whaley of KHOU just did a report on the completion of US 90 (Crosby Freeway). Check it here:

Beat the Traffic: Crosby Freeway relieves traffic congestion on other thoroughfares

...And in addition, YouTube user, WillUBHave did a freeway video on it. So far, only the eastbound route was shot. I was promised that the westbound clip will be available. Take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHtJSvLHrQo

Edited February 21, 2011 by emanthehouseboy

[TheNiche]

I drove it for the first time just this week. It was one heck of a lonely drive. Not much traffic at all.

It is kind of annoying, though, that there is no connectivity between this freeway and the eastbound North Loop lanes.

[emanthehouseboy]

I drove it for the first time just this week. It was one heck of a lonely drive. Not much traffic at all.

It is kind of annoying, though, that there is no connectivity between this freeway and the eastbound North Loop lanes.

@TheNiche, traffic will pick up along the way...I've been driving it up and down and yeah, to access it again, you have to exit at Turning Basin Drive and then U-turn back north towards the East Loop to the US 90 exit. Moreover, there aren't going to be any direct connectors to coming from I-10 east...and I mean I-10 westbound-to-US 90 eastbound and from US 90 westbound-to-I-10 eastbound...

Edited February 21, 2011 by emanthehouseboy

[Trae]

@TheNiche, traffic will pick up along the way...I've been driving it up and down and yeah, to access it again, you have to exit at Turning Basin Drive and then U-turn back north towards the East Loop to the US 90 exit. Moreover, there aren't going to be any direct connectors to coming from I-10 east...and I mean I-10 westbound-to-US 90 eastbound and from US 90 westbound-to-I-10 eastbound...

Guess they aren't expecting that much development on US 90 between 610 and the Beltway.

[intencity77]

My family lives out off US90 and Beltway 8 and I was amazed how quickly I arrived there. It literally shaves about 10 minutes off the drive (as opposed to taking I-10 East, then Beltway 8 North)! It isn't loaded with traffic just yet but I have noticed a little more cars every time I use it. A large chunk of this new segment is mostly large trees and parkland because it cuts right through the middle of Hermann Brown Park. With that said, I don't foresee any development in that area. However, further north, NewQuest has a large "town center" in development (Kroger Markeplace/Target/Cinemark Theatres/24 Hour Fitness) proposed for the southwest corner of new US90 and Beltway 8. BPI has a large tract on the southeast side of the same intersection and are proposing another shopping center anchored possibly by an HEB and a "home improvement store" (likely a Home Depot). Growing up, my mom always complained that there were never enough stores in the area, well seems she's getting her wish!

[LTAWACS]

Heh, yours or mine?

Yours. Or mine. Or both.

[emanthehouseboy]

My family lives out off US90 and Beltway 8 and I was amazed how quickly I arrived there. It literally shaves about 10 minutes off the drive (as opposed to taking I-10 East, then Beltway 8 North)! It isn't loaded with traffic just yet but I have noticed a little more cars every time I use it. A large chunk of this new segment is mostly large trees and parkland because it cuts right through the middle of Hermann Brown Park. With that said, I don't foresee any development in that area. However, further north, NewQuest has a large "town center" in development (Kroger Markeplace/Target/Cinemark Theatres/24 Hour Fitness) proposed for the southwest corner of new US90 and Beltway 8. BPI has a large tract on the southeast side of the same intersection and are proposing another shopping center anchored possibly by an HEB and a "home improvement store" (likely a Home Depot). Growing up, my mom always complained that there were never enough stores in the area, well seems she's getting her wish!

@EddieHou77, @Trae,

Don't forget that Woodforest Terrace is another future subdivision that's coming in the path of Hwy 90. Already, Plantation Homes and Brighton Homes have begun building in the newest section of New Forest--the one near that future town center that's going to be built. I can't hardly wait for Target to return to North Shore...and even if Kohl's, Bed Bath & Beyond, Old Navy, Hobby Lobby, and others set up shop there, then that'll give us many more reasons not to go to Baytown, Pasadena, or even Humble...