The Harris County Flood Control District has opened the Almeda Road Bridge over Brays Bayou to commuters and pedestrians. The approximately $7.7 million Almeda Road Bridge construction project demolished and replaced the previous bridge with a higher, longer and wider bridge. The new bridge has five 11-foot lanes, including a left turn lane at each intersection, and an expanded 10-foot sidewalk. Initially, only one lane of northbound and southbound traffic will be open to commuters, while additional paving and construction is completed on the bridge.
Additionally, the Buffalo Speedway Bridge is expected to open to the public in early 2022 and all the bridge construction projects along Brays Bayou are expected to be completed by Spring 2022. While construction around the Buffalo Speedway and Almeda bridges remains ongoing with an expected full completion date in early 2022. The two bridges will remain open to traffic for the remainder of construction activities.
“Every community should be protected from flooding and have safer streets and sidewalks,” said Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis. “Thanks to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Harris County Flood Control District, two communities and commuters will benefit from such improvements that come with the reconstructed Buffalo Speedway and Almeda bridges. We are so excited the Almeda bridge has reopened and will reduce the risk of flooding.”
The bridge projects are part of Project Brays, which is a $480 million partnership effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Harris County Flood Control District. With the channel modifications completed and all remaining bridge projects currently under construction, Project Brays is scheduled to be completed in early 2022.
The Flood Control District has completed 21 miles of channel improvements, built 4 stormwater detention basins covering a total of more than 800 acres, and will finish replacing or modifying the remaining bridges (of the 32 total bridges) to bring Project Brays to more than 96 percent completion to date. When complete, Project Brays is expected to reduce flooding risks for more than 15,000 structures in the watershed. For more information, visit projectbrays.org.