Harwin Project May Reduce Flooding and Traffic, Remove Homeless Encampment

"Whenever it rains, we flood right here." Billie Parker points to a parking lot between several warehouses on the map. "I can't even step out our front door because of the flooding."

She's general manager at New Era Products, one of many wholesalers along Harwin Dr, and she's in the Midwest Police Station at a community meeting about TIRZ #20's upcoming Harwin Drive Improvement Project, which is designed to address persistent flooding and other issues in the area.

At the August 15 meeting, TIRZ #20, engineering firm CobbFendley, and management firm Hawes Hill share details, maps, and concept drawings with the public. Project manager Don Huml wants everyone to know, “This project will not—I repeat—will not reduce Harwin from four lanes to three lanes.”

When TIRZ #20 applied for a city permit for the Harwin project in 2023, Houston Public Works refused to grant it unless TIRZ #20 reduced Harwin from four lanes to three, said CobbFendley project engineer Tommy Artz. Local business owners pushed back, but HPW (under former mayor Sylvester Turner and former director Carol Haddock) kept promoting the three-lane design.

But new administration, new rules. Now, the $5.5 million project will keep Harwin at four lanes, expand them from 10’ wide to 11’, and add a right turn lane. It will also add a floodwater detention pond, connect Drew St and Glenmont for easier traffic access, and bulldoze a magnet for homeless encampments in the process. Here are the details.

Smaller Scope

Originally, TIRZ #20 planned to rebuild Harwin—and the aging water line underneath—all the way from Fondren to Gessner. But local shopkeepers in the packed wholesale district worried that too much construction would disrupt their business. CobbFendley engineers also reported that replacing the old storm sewer system could cost far more than anticipated.

To appease business owners and keep the project within budget, TIRZ #20 shrank the project to a small stretch of Harwin from Fondren to Drew St (with some extra work on Drew and nearby Glenmont).

Flood Prevention

Not only does the lot near Parker's warehouse flood, but she says that Harwin often floods west of Drew St, forcing her to detour on her way home and making her hour-and-a-half commute even longer. She's glad that much of the project budget will go toward flood prevention.

In 2022, TIRZ #20 purchased a five-acre property on nearby Osage St that used to be a salvage yard, said Huml. On the property, workers will excavate a flood detention basin that Artz says will hold 17 acre feet of water—the amount of H2O it would take to cover 17 acres one foot deep. They will also build a new underground box culvert along Drew St to carry water to the basin.

Planned Traffic Flow Improvements

The project should make it easier for traffic to flow from Harwin onto Fondren. Engineers will extend Harwin's left turn lane further back from the intersection so that traffic turning left onto Fondren will be less likely to get backed up into adjacent lanes. The project will also turn the open drainage ditch at the southwest corner of the intersection into a stretch of covered box culverts. That's to make room for a dedicated right turn lane onto Fondren.

The TIRZ will also install 6'-wide sidewalks and ADA-accessible wheelchair ramps. METRO will be responsible for building a new bus stop further back from the curb, said Artz.

Connecting Drew St and Glenmont

Right now, Drew St dead-ends in a long, narrow belt of woods that extends the rest of the way to Glenmont. The project will clear out the woods and extend Drew St to link with Glenmont, providing another way for traffic to get from Fondren to Harwin and vice versa.

Parker said it would make it easier for her to get to work since New Era's warehouse is next to Drew. That way, she wouldn't have to wait at the Harwin light when she drives in from the north.

Removing a Magnet for Homeless Encampments

The woods at the end of Drew St are fenced with barbed wire to keep homeless people out, but at least one appears to live there anyway. On Thursday, two shopping carts, a bicycle, and plenty of trash sat just in front of the red "No Trespassing" sign on the chain link fence. One section of fence has been pulled aside to make a triangular gap big enough for a person to pass through.

Parker said that homeless people have been living in the woods "from day one," when she started working next door two-and-a-half years ago. "No matter how many times we have kicked them out, helped them out, cleaned it all up, fenced it in, they still keep coming in." She thinks it's a new group every six months or so. "Some of them are nice. Most of them are not."

HPD and the city's COVID Cleanup Crew have cleared out campers from the area multiple times, said Parker. She said she knows two police officers by name because her company has called HPD to deal with the campers so often. "In the past month alone—I am not exaggerating—they have broken in weekly. I can't prove it's them, but I know it's them. Come on."

Only the day before, three men were sitting there "smoking drugs," she said. "Cleaning up Drew St, connecting it to Glenmont, is going to make all of us feel safer in the area."

I wanted to get the other side of the story, so on Thursday evening, I walked up to the fence and shouted, "Hello?" several times. No one answered, but metal clinking sounds came from the woods. As I walked away, a man pulled up to the fence on a bicycle, and another man walked up to the fence to speak with him from inside the woods. I should have turned back to talk to them, because when I returned on Friday, no one answered.

I spoke to a new clerk at a phone repair store, a local business owner's friend, and the security guard of a sketchy, unmarked, something-or-other establishment. The clerk said he didn't know about the homeless camp, the friend said he saw them at the camp every other day but hadn't interacted with them, and the security guard said, "I'm working, boss."

Project Timeline

Huml said that TIRZ #20 plans to finish the design in 2025 and construction in 2026. See the image below for an anticipated construction timeline.

Have you had experiences with the inhabitants of this encampment—or others? Do you own a business in the project area and have thoughts on TIRZ #20's plan? Let us know at sharpstownsharpener@gmail.com or 346-626-8355.