The original plans for State Highway 225 in Houston called for it to start in downtown at an interchange with U.S. 59, the Eastex Freeway. For many years you could see the stubouts/ghost ramps where it was to have connected (not far from Enron Field). The freeway would have run approximately where Harrisburg Avenue is and tie in at the interchange of Interstate 610 and the LaPorte Freeway.
Only a very short section of the freeway was ever completed. If the freeway had been built, it would have displaced the homes of many working class people.
Several alternatives were discussed at one time - make the section a tollway or make Harrisburg a "super street" where you have a few overpasses, but it's not a full-fledged freeway.
The section from the interchange with 610 is not heavily used. The only reason to go that way is basically to get to Broadway Street or Lawndale Avenue. The other side is more heavily used as the start of the LaPorte Freeway.
Various reminders of the cancelled freeway are still in place as you can see in the photos. The large slab of asphalt has always puzzled me. Maybe a reader can help.
