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City of Houston awarded $29M grant for Bissonnet redesign project

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the money for upgrades along a 7-mile stretch of Bissonnet Street from South Dairy Ashford Road to Hillcroft Avenue.

HOUSTON — Houston will get nearly $29 million to make one of its busiest and deadliest streets safer.

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the money for upgrades along a 7-mile stretch of Bissonnet Street from South Dairy Ashford Road to Hillcroft Avenue. 

Houston’s grant was the largest out of 28 awarded across Texas.

It’ll be used to upgrade a road with the highest number of deadly crashes and the second highest number of serious injury crashes of all city-owned streets.

At Sofia’s Hair Design in Southwest Houston, owner Milagros Maldonado has had a front-row seat since 1996 to traffic on Bissonnet near Fondren and the dangers that come with it. 

“Lots of crashes," Maldonado said.

"People speeding?" asked KHOU 11's Adam Bennett.

"Yeah, they do, or they don’t respect, you know, the stop, you know, and they just run," Maldonado said. "We see lots of accidents.”

She said she worries about her customers, many of whom walk to her salon, and is concerned about students walking from the nearby Sharpstown High School.

“It’s a lot of hustling and bustling out here, you know, but one really have to be careful," said Cyprian Imoh, who was taking the bus on Thursday while his car was getting fixed. “There’s not too much sidewalk around this area," Imoh said.

Part of Bissonnet's redesign includes new sidewalks and other pedestrian improvements. It will also feature dedicated turn lanes, protected bike lanes, roundabouts and reconfigurations to street lanes.

City leaders were informed on Wednesday that they would be receiving the nearly $29 million federal grant to help cover the nearly $36 million price tag.

“Truly ecstatic," said Mayor Sylvester Turner.

Turner said he expects some pushback to the redesign.

Renderings show parts of Bissonnet may lose a lane to make room for the changes.

“I know change is sometimes not easy, but too many people are being injured and too many people are being killed by vehicles on the roadway," Turner said.

While some business owners worry about possible impacts from construction, they hope the end result keeps customers coming back safely for years. 

“It could be better for the business too," Maldonado said.

Houston Public Works said they expect construction to start in 2025 and be finished by 2028.

The city said it's set a goal to end traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030.

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