Road construction closes Buffalo Speedway at 59

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- More than 100,000 vehicles use the intersection at Highway 59 and Buffalo Speedway daily. But starting today, Buffalo Speedway will be closed at Highway 59 both directions.

The north and southbound Southwest Freeway frontage roads will remain open but will be down to a single lane.

The best alternate route, if you normally go northbound on Buffalo Speedway, you can take the 59 frontage to Kirby, make the U-turn, stay on the frontage and then head north on Buffalo Speedway.

If you go southbound, you can make a right onto the feeder, make a U-turn on Weslayan, then get back onto Buffalo Speedway.

Tap/click here to view a photo gallery of the construction site.

The Texas Department of Transportation will be closing Buffalo Speedway at US-59 starting Wednesday as TxDOT finishes the final phase of the Southwest Freeway frontage road reconstruction project.

The intersection is scheduled to be closed for 30 days, but may be completed sooner. Officials hope to get the work done before the holidays.

"We already have enough highways closed down already! We can barely get around in Houston," said cab driver Ashley Pierre.

TxDOT spokesperson Danny Perez says the project has already drawn criticism from drivers, even though the contractor is ahead of schedule.

"Because TxDOT has gotten so many complaints and concerns in this high-traffic area, we wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible," said Perez.

Work will continue around the clock in order to finish the reconstruction before Thanksgiving.

"It will be an inconvenience, but we will get out of there quicker," Perez said.

Contractor Hassell Construction Company has the potential to earn an additional $10,000 a day for up to seven days if the project is completed before November 21.

Perez says the Buffalo Speedway intersection is the last segment of the $19 million project to reconstruct the freeway feeder of US-59, between IH-610 (West Loop) and Greenbriar.