Houston highway closed due to ‘pavement failure’, tolls waived

Transportation officials in Houston closed a major highway due to major structural damage.

The road closure was put into place on southbound Highway 288 in Houston, Texas.

In the video below, you can see major cracks and buckling in the roadway.

“Currently, it is observed to be a pavement failure that has caused structural damage, and for safety purposes, the southbound general purpose lanes at SH 288 have been closed from IH 610 to West Bellfort Ave,” said Blueridge Transportation Group in a press release.

Tolls have been waived from the Southmore Boulevard entrance ramp to the Beltway 8 feeder road entrance ramp to try to reduce traffic congestion caused by the road closure.

The following detours are in place:

• 610 westbound to Fannin St: U-turn at Fannin St onto the frontage road and enter 610 eastbound to merge onto SH 288 southbound. 
• 610 eastbound to Scott St: U-turn at Scott Street onto the frontage road. Take the frontage road to merge onto the SH 288 southbound entrance ramp.

It isn’t clear how long the road will be closed. “BTG is currently working very closely with their engineering, construction, environmental teams, and TxDOT to assess the roadway’s impacts and determine a timeline to get traffic back to normal conditions,” said BTG Public Information Officer Raynese Edwards.

“Blueridge Transportation Group (BTG) was formed with the singular purpose of exceeding TxDOT’s goals and expectations in the delivery of the design, build, finance, operation and maintenance of the SH 288 project. BTG is a preeminent group of worldwide and local companies with proven performance delivering large-scale P3 transportation projects,” according to the Drive288 website.

Follow Drive288 on Twitter for the latest road closure information.