I-10 at San Jacinto River Bridge Reconstruction

Introduction

The TxDOT Houston District, is proposing improvements along I-10 at the San Jacinto River from west of Magnolia Street to Thompson Road and Spur 330 from I-10 to Thompson Road in Harris County, Texas, a distance of 4.5 miles. The purpose of the project is to improve traffic flow, increase navigational safety, and enhance roadway network connectivity within the project limits.

Current Conditions

Just west of the river crossing, I-10 consists of three 12-foot-wide travel lanes with 6- to 10-foot-wide shoulders in each direction. Market Street consists of two 13-foot-wide travel lanes, and a 30-foot-wide haul road, maintained by others. No frontage roads are located in this section.

East of Spur 330, the existing I-10 consists of three 12-foot-wide travel lanes, with 12-foot-wide inside and outside shoulders in each direction. There is an eastbound frontage road with three 12-foot-wide lanes, and a westbound frontage road with two 12-foot-wide lanes.

Project background

History of Navigation Traffic Collisions with the Bridge: The existing bridges have a 23-foot-tall vertical clearance and a 158-foot-wide horizontal navigational clearance. Due to repeated barge traffic collisions with the bridge structures on the San Jacinto River, the proposed I-10 main lane bridges would consist of a larger navigational opening and tentatively consist of steel girder bridges with a 52-foot-tall vertical clearance and a 386-foot-wide horizontal navigational clearance. The flooding during Hurricane Harvey had several barges break their moorings and impact the existing bridge protection system causing substantial damage.

Aging Infrastructure: The bridge structures currently in use were constructed in 1968 and 1996. Due to the frequent damage to the existing structure by barge impacts, river scour, and age, the bridges are programmed for replacement.

Poor level of service/congestion: Level of Service, or LOS, describes conditions of a roadway based on driving speed, travel times, and delays. Based on traffic analysis, if no improvements are made by 2050 this section of I-10 is shown to have a Level of Service, or LOS, rating of “F.” An F rating is the worst rating possible in terms of LOS meaning that there are frequent slowdowns and traffic jams. Travel time for LOS F cannot be predicted as there is more demand than capacity on the roadway.

Proposed improvements

The proposed project would:

Replace the existing I-10 main lane bridges over the San Jacinto River
Add one general purpose lane in each direction of I-10; general purpose lanes are free lanes open to all vehicles.
Add two managed lanes in each direction of I-10; managed lanes are non-general-purpose lanes that provide access to specific vehicles based on a set of rules, such as heavy duty truck only, HOV, etc.
Add acceleration/deceleration lanes and entrance/exit ramps

Proposed improvements along Spur 330 include:

Add one managed lane in each direction and connect to the proposed I-10 managed lanes

Additional information

The proposed project would, subject to final design considerations, require approximately 6.18 acres of additional right-of-way (ROW) and potentially displace one non-residential structure containing two businesses and would relocate the City of Baytown’s city limit monument.

The estimated construction cost is approximately $555 million