$2.6M in improvements for I-45 south of Conroe

​​CONROE – Work has began on a long-awaited addition of ride-sharing lanes on I-45 between north Harris County and Conroe.

The $2.6 million project will add a carpool lane in each direction for 17 miles – from FM 1960 to Texas 336 South – to help ease congestion on one of the Houston region’s busiest corridors.

The new lanes are set to open in April, five months later than planned.

North of FM 1960, the Fwy. stretches over 14 lanes, including local frontage roads. The existing pavement in the center of the Fwy. north of FM 1960 will be striped and turned into 12-foot-wide carpool lanes.

Transportation officials say there are more vehicles using I-45 than the Fwy. was designed to handle.

To accommodate growth in and around The Woodlands, officials also are giving more lanes to the Hardy Toll Rd. and constructing an outer beltway called the Grand Pkwy. Three segments of the beltway, from US 290 in northwest Harris County to US 59 in south Montgomery County, are scheduled to open later this year.