Two bridges, one name.
There Are Two Bridges. The City Labeled Them Wrong. I Know Because I Lived There.
By Jim Towers, MJA. JD.
Investigative Photojournalist, Houston Heights Independent.
The North Freeway, Bridge. But there is no North Freeway, Bridge.
The Cottage Street bridge over I-45 has been signed with the frontage road name for years. Nobody at the city noticed. The Editor-in-Chief of HHI did — because he grew up in its shadow.
I grew up on the wrong side of that bridge.
The apartments where I spent my early years sat right up against I-45, just off what everyone in the neighborhood knew as the North Street bridge — the older crossing, the one with the arched chain-link fencing, the one that connects North Street proper to the Heights side of the freeway. Drug-ridden complex. Crime-ridden block. The kind of address that doesn't show up in Heights real estate listings or neighborhood history write-ups. We were Northside, technically. Mostly Mexican. Davis High School. It wasn't until my senior year that we crossed over — moved to 16th Street, into the Heights proper, the Mexican side of a line that has been moving in one direction ever since.
Cottage St., Bridge, currently Labeled North Freeway, Bridge.
I know what the North Street bridge is. I know what it looks like, what it connects, and where it sits in relation to everything else in that corridor. Which is why, when the city got it wrong, I noticed.
North Freeway, Bridge or Cottage St., Bridge? No one knows.
The North St., Bridge facing westbound no access to the freeway.
North street bridge facing westbound from the east side of the bridge.
There are three crossings over I-45 in this stretch of the Heights. North Main bridge to the north. North Street bridge in the middle — the correct one, the older one, the one I grew up next to. And Cottage Street bridge approximately fifty yards further along, a newer structure with concrete barrier walls and a completely different profile.
The city signed the Cottage Street bridge wrong.On both approaches, on both sides of the freeway, the signage cluster at Cottage Street reads: Cottage ST 300 on top — correct — and North FWY 2400 immediately below it on the same pole. The bridge that carries Cottage Street over I-45 was labeled with the frontage road name — North Freeway — instead of the street name. Anyone approaching that bridge reads "North Freeway" and assumes: North Freeway Bridge. The Cottage Street bridge has effectively been renamed by implication, and nobody at the city apparently noticed.
The North Street bridge labeled the north Street bridge on North Street.
The actual North Street bridge — one block south, arch fencing, older surface, North St. 200 on approach — is correctly signed. Nobody touched those. They didn't need to. They were already right.
HHI has documented the error across multiple passes through the area, most recently this week, with the Managing Editor present. The key maps confirm the correct designations. The signs on the ground do not match.
HHI has submitted a query to the City of Houston regarding the signage discrepancy and the timeline for correction. We will update this story when the city responds — or when it does not.
North St. at Houston Ave. 3000 — Historic District markers on both signs. North Street runs deep into the Heights. The bridge that carries it over I-45 is not the one the city signed. (HHI / Jim Towers)
On the evening of August 9, 2026, the Houston Heights Independent formally notified the City of Houston via 311@houstontx.gov of the signage discrepancy, with photographic documentation attached. The city acknowledged receipt at 11:38 PM. Case number COH:0001434 has been assigned. The city has 72 hours to respond.
HHI will update this story when it does — or when it does not.
MURRAY ON THE SCENT — FIELD REPORT
I have walked both bridges.
They smell different.
One of them smells like it knows what it's called. The other one does not.
I am a basset hound and I am telling you this is a problem.
— Murray, Sergeant Major, HHI Chief investigative field correspondent.
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