Major road closures scheduled this weekend

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Attention drivers: There are several closures along Interstate 45 North and a major one along 610 North Loop scheduled for this weekend.

Beginning 9pm Friday, crews will shut down the following entrance or exit ramps until 5am Monday:

Southbound entrance ramp from Shepherd. Detour to Parker entrance ramp. Southbound entrance ramp from Little York Road. Detour to Parker entrance ramp. Southbound exit ramp to Parker Road. Detour Tidwell exit ramp. Southbound entrance ramp from Gulf Bank Road. Detour to next entrance ramp. Crews also will close two southbound lanes of the highway from Little York Road to Parker Road. For drivers using the Interstate 45 North frontage roads, crews will close both the eastbound and westbound directions at Little York also between 9pm Friday and 5am Monday. Drivers heading eastbound on Little York will be forced to detour southbound on Interstate 45 to Tidwell and u-turn back to IH 45 North to Little York. For drivers heading westbound, they will be detoured to the 45 North to Gulf Bank and u-turn back on Highway 45 South to Little York.

Crews also are shutting down both directions of the Interstate 45 frontage roads at Parker. Drivers heading eastbound on Parker will be forced to detour to Interstate 45 South to Tidwell and u-turn back to IH 45 North to Parker. Drivers heading westbound will detour to Interstate 45 North to Gulf Bank and u-turn back to Parker.

Then between 4am and 2pm Sunday, crews will completely shut down the northbound lanes of Interstate 45 at Crosstimbers. Drivers will be forced to exit and re-enter the freeway at the next entrance ramp.

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610 North Loop closure

Between 6am Saturday and 5am Monday, both northbound and southbound lanes of East T.C. Jester at the North Loop are scheduled for closure. Drivers heading northbound on East T.C. Jester will detour to IH 610 eastbound frontage road, turn left at Ella and left on IH 610 westbound frontage road to E. T.C. Jester. Drivers heading southbound will detour to IH 610 westbound frontage road to W. T.C. Jester.

Check real-time traffic information in our ABC13.com traffic section

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Lane closures on I-45 North Freeway

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Crews will be closing multiple southbound mainlanes of IH 45 North Freeway from Little York Road to Parker Road over the weekend. The closures are necessary for crews to complete bridge deck repairs at Parker Road and Little York Road. Motorists should expect delays and should consider an alternate route if possible.

Starting Friday, January 20 at 9pm until Monday, January 23 at 5am two southbound outside mainlanes will be closed from Little York Road to Parker. In addition, a third lane will be closed between the hours of 9pm and 10am the following morning on Saturday, January 21 and Sunday, January 22. The third lane will also be closed from Sunday, January 22 at 9pm until Monday, January 23 at 5am.

During the same time, several frontage road intersections and ramps at IH 45 North Freeway will be closed:

Parker Road eastbound at IH 45 North Freeway. Detour to IH 45 North southbound to Tidwell and u-turn back to IH 45 North northbound to Parker.Parker Road westbound at IH 45 North Freeway. Detour to IH 45 North northbound to Gulf Bank and u-turn back to IH 45 North southbound to Parker.Little York eastbound at IH 45 North Freeway. Detour to IH 45 southbound to Tidwell and u-turn back to IH 45 North northbound to Little York.Little York westbound at IH 45 North Freeway. Detour to IH 45 northbound to Gulf Bank and u-turn back to IH 45 North southbound to Little York.IH 45 North Freeway northbound entrance ramp from Gulf Bank, Shepherd, and Little York will be closed. Detour to the Parker entrance ramp.IH 45 North Freeway southbound exit ramp to Parker will be closed. Detour to the Tidwell exit ramp.

Police officers will be on site to assist with traffic control. No frontage road lanes will be affected. For more information on scheduled lane closures in the Houston District visit the Houston TranStar website at www.houstontranstar.org. All closures are subject to change due to inclement weather.

Check real-time traffic information in our ABC13.com traffic section

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Art Car Parade to cause road closures

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- As you make your weekend plans, be aware of some road closures because of the Art Car Parade.

The parade begins at 1pm Sunday on Allen Parkway (inbound) at Taft Street and proceeds east on Allen Parkway (inbound), north on Bagby, west on Allen Parkway (outbound) and concludes Allen Parkway (outbound) at Taft Street. Staging for the parade is on Allen Parkway (inbound) between Shepherd Drive and Taft Street and disbanding will happen on Allen Parkway (outbound) between Taft Street and Shepherd Drive. Closures on those streets are from 8am to 3pm Sunday. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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HISD students react to elementary campus closures

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- As Houston ISD prepares to close down four under-attended elementary schools, parents and students are trying to come to terms with the decision.

As we showed you late last night, trustees voted to close Grimes, Rhoads, McDade and Stevenson elementary schools. Students will be allowed to attend any other campus they choose. On Friday afternoon at Stevenson, we found that many parents picking up their children also attended the school when they were kids. And the young students have various concerns about the closure. "I'm gonna miss my friends and I'm scared I won't get to see them again," one student said. "I'm going to be scared because this is the only school I go to," another said. "I don't want this school to shut down, it's like my learning home," a third said. "I was hoping to graduate from all the way to middle school; it's all up in smokes," a fourth student said. The district is still deciding what to do with the campuses once they're closed. Meanwhile, students currently zoned to McDade would be redistributed among Paige, Cook and Kashmere Gardens elementary schools. Rhoads Elementary and Grimes Elementary students would attend the Woodson pre-kindergarten through 8th grade school. Stevenson Elementary would be redistributed to Memorial and Love elementary schools. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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HISD board resume discussions on budget, school closures

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The HISD board is meeting this morning for another round of budget talks.

Trustees will discuss next year's budget along with a redistricting project based on the results of the 2010 census. They'll also review the latest recommendations for closing and consolidating low-enrollment schools to help the district close a budget gap.

A final vote on school closures is set for May 12th.

(Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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Parents react to possibility of 17 HISD school closures

 HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Parents are reacting to news that their child's school is now at risk of closing because unprecedented budget cuts has HISD scrambling for every penny. Now four times as many neighborhood schools could close as a result.

Initially, HISD said Love, Grimes, McDade, and Rhoads elementaries were at risk of closing down. But now that list has increased to 17 schools across the city. They include both elementary and middle schools. Parents say they're devastated their schools are even being considered for closure. For HISD, it's another option as they're desperate to battle that budget gap. The possibility of closing Memorial Elementary brings an immediate response among parents. "I think it's sad, so sad, because I went to school here, and my mom went to school here," said parent Josette Juarez, whose children now attend the school. HISD's board of trustees is already considering closing Rhoads, Grimes, McDade and Love elementaries. They are now considering the closure or consolidation of 13 more schools including Memorial Elementary. "I think there's plenty of children to keep them running and it would be devastating. There kids have gone to school here forever," parent Kathy Howard said. Memorial Elementary has fewer than 400 students. Closing small schools, says HISD Superintendent Dr. Terry Grier, could save an estimated $600,000 per campus. However, Grier says there is no quota for how many schools will close. "No, there is no magic number. We're looking at each individually and we're looking at proximity to another school where you might be able to combine some savings," he said. Savings have already been found elsewhere. Just this week, HISD announced their latest numbers for teacher layoffs. Budget cuts mean 567 teacher positions so far have been eliminated. Add to that 163 teachers not renewed because of performance and the number equals 730 teachers gone starting next year. Parents realize classroom sizes will be bigger. Some say they have a solution. "That's where we're going to have to rally the parent volunteers to come up and put time in and be more involved than ever," Memorial Elementary PTO President Kelly Henrikson said. Parents say that's what they're planning to do. They're going to fight as hard as they can to keep Memorial Elementary open. HISD is planning to meet Thursday, but this issue isn't on the district's agenda. Another option for the school district would be raising its tax rate. If HISD closed every one of those schools, it would save about $10 million -- nowhere near what is needed to cover the $63 million budget gap. HISD's board of trustees can raise property tax up to 7 cents per $100 valuation without voter approval. Each 1-cent raise in tax would equal approximately $9.9 million in revenue. However, the possibility of raising tax is on not any agenda for vote. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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