610 Southbound Hard Right Turn To Hidalgo St. & Richmond Ave.

[Perimeter285]

Can someone help me understand why TXDOT placed a hard right turn access from the 610 southbound feeder road to Hidalgo Street/Richmond Avenue (just south of the Galleria)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is a ramp from the mainlanes to Hidalgo/Richmond just north of here. Why did they bother to construct this large ramp if they're still going to have this stifling little right turn also? It causes MAJOR backups, because it is within a few feet of the ramps to enter 610 and 59. Still, with all of the other options available to the drivers of our fair city, I'm constantly amazed at the number of people lined up to make this stupid little right turn. Who designs this crap, and does anyone know if they plan to remove this thing at some point?

[MiDTOWNeR]

Can someone help me understand why TXDOT placed a hard right turn access from the 610 southbound feeder road to Hidalgo Street/Richmond Avenue (just south of the Galleria)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is a ramp from the mainlanes to Hidalgo/Richmond just north of here. Why did they bother to construct this large ramp if they're still going to have this stifling little right turn also? It causes MAJOR backups, because it is within a few feet of the ramps to enter 610 and 59. Still, with all of the other options available to the drivers of our fair city, I'm constantly amazed at the number of people lined up to make this stupid little right turn. Who designs this crap, and does anyone know if they plan to remove this thing at some point?

But it feels so URBAN....and Houstonians LOVE urban.

[energyman2005]

while this is a stupid design, it's not half as retarded as the merge-fest that goes on when trying to get on 59 from 610-South. Why they let that access road on at THE EXACT SAME POINT as the 59 exit is beyond me. It causes at least a 10-minute delay from 5 - 7 pm.

[713 To 214]

You're right. The design is stupid and dangerous because of its location an the lack of proper signage.

[AftonAg]

You're right. The design is stupid and dangerous because of its location an the lack of proper signage.

To me the simplest solution to the continual traffic problems at the West loop and 59 interchange could be solved by making the two inside lanes from Memorial on express lanes - with no exits. Just add another dividing wall down that second lane, put up the appropriate signage and things would run much smoother. A huge part of the traffic problem is people getting in the left two lanes to avoid traffic coming on to the freeway, and then trying to get back into the right lanes to exit onto 59. This would still allow one lane access over the 610 bridge for traffic getting on the freeway headed south. This could also work on the North bound side of the freeway where the same problem occurs with drivers moving to the left to avoid traffic getting on the freeway and then diving across those lanes to exit onto the Katy freeway. No new lanes required, just some more concrete dividers and a few signs. Feedback appreciated.

[ricco67]

Actually, something along those lines were proposed for the original expansion of 610 about 10 years ago.

One of the proposals even included a double decker freeway.

They had to be excluded because the business along the 610 complained about the construction length and design and how it would affect businesses.

After several drafts, it took another couple of years to get everyone on 610 to find some sort of consensus before construction could begin for one reason or another.

If it wasn't for all the opposition and delays, the freeway construction on 610 (as well as the katy) would have been completed at least 4 years ago.