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HOUSTON — It's a busy week for the Texas Department of Transportation as it gets prepared to shut down the 59/610 connector for two years, but there's another multi-million dollar project going on near the same area and it's already stretching for miles.

They're plastic barriers that are installed on top of the existing concrete divider wall.

Why? They're in place to dissuade pedestrians from trying to cross the highway.

“What we’ve seen ... they’re folks crossing the freeway ... they’re taking a chance,” TxDot Houston District Public Information Officer Danny Perez said.

TxDot hopes the 2-foot by 10-foot barriers that add to the height of the middle wall will prevent them from trying to do that.

“It prevents them from trying to get over. They’ll see it's higher than the normal barrier height," Perez said.

So far, they've been installed along 59 and soon will line the North Freeway, too.

“It could be they don’t want to go to a safer location to cross under the freeway. They think it might be quicker just to cross at that point ... they’re looking. If somebody is traveling at a high rate of speed, it’s not going to end well," Perez said.

How big of a problem is it? According to data from TxDot between 2016 and 2022, there were a total of eight auto-pedestrian fatalities along 59 and 23 deaths along 45. And there were also over 20 "suspected serious injuries" between the two highways, according to the data.

As recently as last week, a pedestrian was killed trying to cross 45 at Parker Road.

“We want to bring those numbers down. We want to get to a time where we have zero fatalities. And this is just a tool we’re using to keep folks from getting onto the freeways," Perez said.

So far, TxDOT has installed six miles of the barriers and when the project is done there will be about 15 total miles.

Here is where it will be:

The hope is that the walls will stop people from thinking they can dodge or outrun a car.

"Crossing the freeway is not an option," Perez said.

An added hope is that the barriers will help keep drivers focused on their own side of the road. They will mainly be installed overnight for safety and the project is estimated to finish in early August.

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