Closures at Mecom Fountain

Houston's big traffic circle is about to get confusing: Beginning today, various parts of the circle around the Mecom Fountain will be closed while workers install a huge storm sewer running from Main and Montrose to Brays Bayou. Today, the southeast side of the circle — the side closest to Hermann Park — will close, meaning all traffic will be diverted to the west side. The southbound lanes of Main heading toward the circle will narrow to one lane, and the northbound lanes will narrow to two. Southbound Montrose will narrow to two lanes, and Hermann Drive will be completely closed between Fannin and the circle. It'll take a while to get used to — in the meantime, speed demons should slow down a little bit when entering the circle (and Houstonist knows you're out there, because you almost run us down at least once a week).

Sometime this summer, the situation will reverse, with all traffic sharing the east side of the circle. But we'll get to that when it happens. In the meantime, there's detailed information on the project and suggested alternate routes at houstonsheart.org. (Basically, avoid the Museum District if you can. And if you have to go, this might be a good time to get acquainted with the MetroRail, which will run as scheduled through the project.)