This has been in the works for a long time.
The plan for the Hardy-Downtown Connector began in earnest in 2003, but the project stalled for many years due to budget concerns. The basic plan is a four-lane highway that would cut through the Near Northside community, elevated in some areas and entrenched in others. The expansion would start at the Interstate 610 interchange with the current toll road and be built west of Elysian Street, running south past Interstate 10 and connecting with Interstate 69.
While work continued in various forms in the interim years, the Harris County Toll Road Authority received a directive from Commissioners Court in 2020 to provide better integration of a “north-south connection into the surrounding neighborhoods the project will be part of” according to a statement from the agency.
“Back when it was originally conceptualized in the early 2000s, the Hardy downtown connector project was just a road, with no exits or consideration for how it would impact folks living in the area,” said Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia in a written statement. “I expect the version of the project that will be considered now will look much different, now with community concerns in mind.”
When looking at the plans put out by HCTRA, those differences come most obviously in the form of enhanced landscaping and green spaces throughout the project. These include multi-use trails, sports facilities, and community spaces throughout the footprint of the project.
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HCTRA issued a statement that said that a “Final Visioning Report” on the project is currently under development and will consolidate the community input officials have received in the last 14 months.
According to organizers at the block-walk event, the Hardy-Downtown Connector project will be considered by the Commissioners Court sometime at the end of March or beginning of April. According to Moritz, HCTRA will have to provide a financial viability report which will be key in garnering political support amongst the court. If the project is not financially viable, then the project could lose steam.
“People are not shy about telling me about how they feel about the work that the county is doing or planning to do,” Garcia said in a statement. “I am hopeful that once the public sees (the report), they will feel confident that their voices have been heard.”
I have blog posts about the original plans for this from 2005, 2007, and 2011, when it looked like it was set for final approval. I don’t know what happened at the time, but obviously it did not get built. What is being described now sounds better than what was once proposed, and the Houston Landing story shows at least some community support for the current plan, but opposition still exists.
You can see a preliminary map of the project here. I didn’t find a dedicated HCTRA webpage for this – that ARCGIS page points to http://www.hardydowntownconnector.org/, which appears to be inoperative, and Google pointed me to this empty HCTRA page. I’m not sure what to make of that. Be that as it may, we’ll learn more about where this stands shortly.
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