With more Houstonians staying at home due to COVID-19 and social distancing guidelines, walking and biking have increased substantially. To support this, the City of Houston is launching Slow Streets, a project to provide more space for these key activities by limiting certain streets to local traffic only.
The first streets in the pilot project are located in the Eastwood neighborhood on McKinney (Milby to Dumble) and Dumble (Polk to Harrisburg). At key intersections, the City has mounted simple barriers that maintain space for local traffic while encouraging through traffic to take alternate routes. People driving to local homes and businesses will still be able to access these streets, along with all emergency vehicles. No parking spaces have been removed.
Slow Streets will make it easier for people walking and rolling to move around the neighborhood and get key physical activity, all while maintaining social distance. The pilot project will last until Labor Day 2020, and City staff will continue to meet with community members to gather feedback.
