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The second phase of the Shepherd-Durham reconstruction project will move forward with wider lanes and narrower sidewalks, while reconfiguring one block of 11th Street back to its original form.
In a Tuesday afternoon announcement, Mayor John Whitmire’s office said it had reached a compromise with the Memorial Heights Redevelopment Authority on the Shepherd/Durham reconstruction project. The compromise will allow for wider lanes on Shepherd and Durham while keeping with the terms of a federal grant necessary to complete the project.
The first phase is scheduled to be completed this fall, and runs from North Loop 610 to West 15th Street. The second phase will pick up at 15th and run to Interstate 10.
Both phases of the project included stormwater drainage improvements, but the first phase included 10-foot sidewalks and narrower vehicle lanes. Those elements will look different in the next phase.
The second phase will have narrower sidewalks than originally planned and will include dedicated bike lanes. The project still will reduce lanes from four to three, but the lanes will maintain the current width of 11 feet on Shepherd and Durham.
The compromise also calls for the addition of left-turn lanes, the locations of which will be determined by further data analysis.
“The Shepherd-Durham project promises significant benefits for a transportation corridor that has not seen any attention since the 1960s,” read a statement from the redevelopment authority. “We thank Mayor Whitmire for recognizing the importance of this project and for his dedication to addressing our city’s infrastructure’s needs.”
The compromise was a welcome sign for transit advocates, who pointed to community support for the project as a major key.
“It’s great to see the mayor acknowledge the extraordinarily broad community support this transformative project enjoys,” BikeHouston executive director Joe Cutrufo said.
“We are largely happy that the compromise mirrors the initial scope of the project,” said Nick Arcos, director of communications for equitable transit advocacy nonprofit LINK Houston. “This is an easy way of claiming a win for his objections to the 11th Street changes and the Shepherd-Durham project without necessarily having to revert the entire projects.”
The project also would return a block of 11th Street east of Shepherd to four lanes, undoing part of an award-winning pedestrian mobility project completed in late 2023 under Whitmire’s predecessor, Sylvester Turner. The street would narrow to two lanes at Dorothy. West of Shepherd, the road will remain at four lanes.
Construction on the three-year project is slated to begin this fall.
“The Mayor appreciates the TIRZ providing additional data to move the project forward for the benefit of Houstonians,” a press release from the mayor’s office read. Houston City Council will be asked to approve an interlocal agreement for the project in the coming weeks.
The compromise is the latest development for road redesign projects around the city since Whitmire took office.
The administration still has a pause on more than a dozen mobility projects and road redesigns across the city as they undergo an administrative review, and the status of those projects is currently unclear. Those projects include reductions in the number or width of vehicle lanes.
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