How to outsmart summertime traffic slowdowns in Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Thousands of drivers head to the Galleria area for shopping, dining, and events every day.

This summer, there are some big obstacles that could slow you down on your drive in the area, including the very busy Post Oak intersection at the freeway.

TxDOT and METRO are building elevated bus lanes along the West Loop, which will tie into new bus lanes along Post Oak.

Crews will reopen the Woodway/Memorial southbound exit and the feeder from the West Loop, which will speed up traffic.

The West Loop southbound will shut down for a whole weekend at some point in May for crews to hang beams.

RELATED: Plan to get thousands of drivers out of your way in Galleria-area traffic

In the meantime, you can see progress along Post Oak Boulevard.

A total of 16 new bus shelters are going up with road construction on Post Oak. They are expected to finish by the end of May or early June, according to the Uptown District.

Those special Metro buses that will go down the middle of Post Oak will not be operational until next year.

TxDOT also has plans to eventually build an express lane down the middle of West Loop between 290 and US-59.