be prepared to stop

Prepare for a major, 2-year closure at the 610 West Loop and Southwest Freeway

610 loop interchange Southwest Freeway Houston I-69

Well, this should be fun.

Photo courtesy of TxDOT

Drivers on Houston’s 610 West Loop are in for a big change — one that will last two years. The Texas Department of Transportation will close the I-69 Southwest Freeway southbound connector ramp to I-610 West Loop southbound beginning at 9 pm Friday, April 29.

This closure, which is part of the ongoing I-610 West Loop/ I-69 Southwest Freeway interchange project, is expected to last through late 2024, according to a TxDOT press release. Some 300,000 drivers on each roadway (approximately 600,000 total) will be affected each day, TxDOT estimates.

Affected motorists should check the multiple project websites and social media (see below for links) and their favorite navigation app before traveling.

For those who are (understandably) groaning, TxDOT spokesperson Danny Perez reminds that contractor Williams Brothers has completed highway projects sooner. “They’ve been able to take advantage of the incentives in the project,” Perez tells CultureMap. “And we’re not going to keep something closed unnecessarily.”

All this construction clearly means motorists will be forced to detour. TxDOT has provided these instructions for drivers:

Traffic will continue on the I-69 Southwest Freeway southbound mainlanes to the Fountain View Drive exit ramp.
U-turn at Fountain View Drive.
Continue onto the first entrance ramp onto the IH 69 northbound mainlanes.
Traffic will then take the I-69 northbound connector ramp to the I-610 southbound mainlanes.

The closures don’t end there. TxDOT warns that additional ramp closures will take place this coming weekend. More information can be found at the official 610 West Loop/ Southwest Freeway interchange project website: www.hou610at69.com.

Yet another closure will take place at 9 pm Friday, May 6. Here, work crews will close the Southwest Freeway southbound exit ramp to Chimney Rock for approximately two months, a press release notes.

Drivers should:

Take the Fountain View exit ramp.
U-turn at Fountain View onto IH-69 Northbound Frontage Road to reach Chimney Rock Road.

Not surprisingly, motorists are encouraged to seek alternative routes during this work. Police will be onsite to assist with traffic control.

While this work requires patience, there is a positive, Perez adds. These two projects will allow the Westheimer exit to open on 610, greatly increasing flow. The scheduled work also alleviates the need to close any mainlanes on 610 long-term, which would result in a true traffic nightmare.

As CultureMap previously reported, these closures are part of the continued work on the I-610 West Loop mainlane bridge over I-69 Southwest Freeway, as well as the reconstruction of the new I-69 Southwest Freeway southbound connector ramp to I-610 West Loop southbound.

The $259 million project aims to significantly enhance safety and improve mobility by widening the connector ramps to two lanes, increasing sight distances, and providing remedies to eliminate weaving, per TxDOT.

Those interested can find road closure information at www.houstontranstar.org and at www.HOU610at69.com. Twitter users can follow @HOU610at69 and @TxDOTHouston for the latest updates.

transportation city-news-roundup traffic

SUDDEN SHUTTERS

GameStop to close 11 Houston-area stores amid nationwide cuts

GameStop/ Facebook

Long lines for video game releases are a rarity these days.

For GameStop, it’s a blood bath right out of Mortal Kombat. The Grapevine-based video game chain is expected to shed 470 locations nationwide, including 11 in the greater Houston area.

The closures were revealed in the company's newest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that said it would close "a significant number of additional stores in fiscal 2025" ending on January 31. In its last fiscal year, GameStop shuttered 590 locations.

In addition to braving the overall “retail apocalypse,” the retailer faces the same conditions that largely decimated CD and video stores. Video games are now available for digital download in seconds and no longer require a trip to a physical store.

“As a part of our profitability initiative, we are reducing our global store base, which includes closing stores that are not meeting performance standards or stores at the end of their lease terms with the intent of transferring sales to other nearby locations,” the company wrote in its annual report. “ If we are unsuccessful in marketing to customers of the stores that we plan to close or in transferring sales to nearby stores, our results of operations could be negatively impacted.”

The current digital squeeze isn’t the first time GameStop has been thrown for a loop by contemporary internet culture. In 2021, the retailer famously became a meme stock, buoyed by users of Reddit's r/wallstreetbets. The skyrocketing increase in its stock price, followed by short selling, caused major financial consequences for hedge funds and other investors.

Since then, the stock price has been more stable but has decreased approximately 21 percent over the last year. After CEO Ryan Cohen bought 500,000 shares in the company on January 21, the price has slightly rebounded.

GameStop has not issued a formal list of the closures, and a request for more information was not returned at press time. But Ohio’s WKYC Studios put together a list of all the U.S. stores that are on the chopping block, verified through GameStop’s online store locator. The Texas closings are as follows:

Allen – The Village at Allen, 170 E. Stacy Rd
Arlington – Little School Road Shops, 1245 N. Little School Rd
Austin – Ben White Payload Center, 500 E. Ben White Blvd
Balch Springs – Lake June Plaza, 12209 Lake June Rd
Boerne – Menger Crossing, 1375 S. Main St
Cedar Park – Lakeline Plaza, 11066 Pecan Park Blvd
Conroe – Conroe Center, 1231 N. Loop 336 W
Corpus Christi – Padre Island Drive, 1805 S. Padre Island Dr
Corsicana – Corsicana Marketplace, 3811 W. Highway 31
Dallas – Glen Oaks Crossing, 4787 Vista Wood Blvd
El Paso – Alameda Town Center, 9411 Alameda Ave
El Paso – Fountains at Farah, 8889 Gateway West Blvd
Fort Worth – Clifford Retail, 301 Clifford Center Dr
Garland – Ridgewood Village, 2930 S. First St
Houston – Beechnut Street Houston, 10100 Beechnut St
Houston – Bellaire Gessner Center, 8880 Bellaire Blvd
Houston – Market at Uvalde, 13706 East Fwy
Houston – Market Square, 13341 Westheimer Rd
Houston – Oxford Plaza, 10407 North Fwy
Houston – Royal Oaks, 11807 Westheimer Rd
Houston – Wayside Shopping Center, 900 S. Wayside Dr
Huntsville – Ravenwood Village, 245 Interstate 45 N
Irving – MacArthur Park, 7601 N. MacArthur Blvd
Lake Jackson – Lake Jackson Shopping Center, 121 Highway 332 W
La Marque – LaMarque Crossing, 6408 Interstate 45
Laredo – Laredo Crossing Shopping Center, 4415 S. Zapata Hwy
Leon Valley – 5601 Bandera Rd
Lubbock – 7th St Lubbock, 1803 Seventh St
Magnolia – Westwood Village, 33020 FM 2978 Rd
Mansfield – Mansfield Crossing, 1301 E. Debbie Ln
Marble Falls – Highland Lakes, 2400 US Highway 281
McKinney – Lake Forest Crossing, 4100 S. Lake Forest Dr
Mesquite – Town East Mall, 2050 Town East Mall
Mission – Shary Plaza, 808 S. Shary Rd
Palmhurst – Palmhurst Shopping Center, 4416 N. Conway Ave
Paris – Paris Corners, 3842 Lamar Ave
Saginaw – Cross Pointe Shopping Center, 1453 N. Saginaw Blvd
San Antonio – Alamo Quarry Market, E. 255 Basse Rd
San Antonio – Blanco Road, 7117 Blanco Rd
San Antonio – Huebner Oaks Center, 11745 W. I-10
San Antonio – Northwoods Phase III, 1742 N. Loop 1604 E
San Antonio – Walzem Plaza, 5366 Walzem Rd
Stephenville – Stephenville Shopping Center, 2811 W. Washington St
Sulphur Springs – Sulphur Springs Corners, 1707 S. Broadway St
Terrell – Terrell Corner, 1888 W. Moore Ave
Tyler – State Highway 64 Tyler, 3842 State Highway 64 W
Watauga – Watauga Town Crossing, 8004 Denton Hwy

video games retail closings