HOUSTON – The proposed Hardy Toll Road Extension Project received another round of thumb’s up from Harris County leaders.
On Tuesday, the Harris County Commissioner’s Court unanimously voted to continue moving forward with the project that would connect the Hardy Toll Road to downtown Houston.
The project was originally proposed in 2003. Fast forward 21 years, the super highway that would connect the existing Hardy Toll Road that ends near I-610 in NW Harris County to the downtown area, has yet another round of approvals.
However, not everyone is jumping at the chance to build the super highway.
“Yeah, not super excited,” said James Graham, who lives along the current Hardy Toll Road in the Near Northside.
He’s among many in this area that are against the idea of building the expansion.
“I want it to stay like it is,” Charles Johnson said.
They both live towards the northern end of the proposed Downtown Connector. This is an area where the highway would spread out, with bridges that could soon be soaring just above their roofs with concrete pilings in their backyards.
“Right in our backyard, essentially,” said Graham. “That’s literally like we could reach out and almost touch the, the support structures from our fence line. Something that just came came to mind was, if a car gets in an accident right there.”
Much of the route for the new tollway cuts through wooded areas and along an old train track.
However, some of the portions of roadway rub right against residential property. That idea rubs the owners the wrong way, even if it means making transportation easier for millions of people each year in SE Texas.
“It’s not for us. Right. Like there isn’t an onramp in our backyard to get on,” Graham said.
Despite the opposition, Commissioner’s Court is moving forward with studies and even the idea of potential affordable housing alongside the highway.