June 2005 Update: The US 59/IH-10

US 59 gets its downtown connections: Thesephotos show the new interchange complex beingconstructed on the Eastex Freeway (US 59North) approach to downtown. Original plans forthe downtown Houston freeway system includeda complete distribution system for each freewaycoming into downtown, but plans for the EastexFreeway were dropped because the Union Stationrail yard blocked the needed feeder streets.In the late 1990s work began to rebuild theUS 59-IH 10 interchange and add a distributionsystem for the Eastex Freeway.In the upper photo, the original US 59 structureis the second from the right and was in the processof being demolished when the photo wastaken in May 2002. In the photo at left, taken inNovember 2002, the original bridge structure hasbeen almost completely demolished—all thatremains are a few piers near the bottom of thephoto. The new US 59 southbound main laneswere constructed on the location of the demolishedoriginal bridge. The project is scheduled forcompletion in 2004.The US 59 downtown distribution system and accompanyingreconstructed interchange at IH 10is the first new-facility construction in downtownHouston since the original completion of the interchangecomplex in 1980.