HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) –Blighted buildings will be torn down, shuttles will take visitors nonstop from the airport to the Galleria and the airport will have a designated area added just to help process foreign guests in town for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
And while right now, Carlos Carrillo said his 4 a.m. drive to work on the North Freeway near Parker Road is practically pitch black at times, the city said he can expect to see some light soon.
“I counted because I went all the way over there to the Beltway. I think there’s about 80 lights and at least 80 percent of them are out,” Carrilo told 13 Investigates.
The changes are all a part of the City of Houston’s plans to make improvements to the city ahead of the seven Super Bowl-size World Cup games next summer that are expected to draw in millions of people from across the world.
13 Investigates wanted to know more about the projects Houston Public Works is prioritizing ahead of the games, so we requested their emails.
One resident reached out to the Mayor’s office about “an abundance of the tall freeway light towers” that are “inoperative” on Interstate 610 and U.S. Highway 59.
“The area between I-10 and 59 on loop 610 thru the Galleria, 75% were not working. I first called TxDOT and they referred me to the city because it (is) their responsibility,” the resident said in a Jan. 3, 2025, email to the Mayor’s office. “I know the Mayor campaigned on public safety and I feel like this is an issue for the traveling public and the first responders working accident scenes.”
That email was forwarded to a spokesperson for the Houston Public Works Department and they discussed who could best answer the resident’s concerns about the ownership of the freeway lights.
The freeway lighting is a major project we are working on, as we are trying to get them all repaired and burning by the 2026 World Cup games.
Houston Public Works maintenance manager
“We are aware of these issues. The major challenges we currently face are wire theft, aging infrastructure, difficulty hiring qualified personnel, unreported damage by unknown contractors and knocked down electrical services,” a maintenance manager at Houston Public Works said in internal emails. “The freeway lighting is a major project we are working on, as we are trying to get them all repaired and burning by the 2026 World Cup games.”
When 13 Investigates asked the city about maintaining tower lighting on interstates, they sent us a similar response, citing the challenges with wire theft and aging infrastructure.
“Houston Public Works is committed to maintaining the mast lighting along freeways and highways within Houston city limits,” a Public Works spokesperson said in a statement. “Repair work includes coordinating with TxDOT on when they can assist with closing down traffic lanes for our crews to make these repairs while working around their construction schedule. Freeway lighting is a major project as the city prepares for the 2026 World Cup games. We encourage the community to report any freeway lights that are out to 311 so our team can track and add the location to the list for repairs.”
SEE ALSO: ‘2024 is a critical year’: Houston World Cup committee begins plans ahead of hosting in 2026
The city is also working to tear down what it calls “blighted” and “dangerous” buildings ahead of the World Cup, including the old Greyhound station at 2121 Main Street and an old hotel at 801 St. Joseph’s Parkway.
“The administration wants to take action against two properties in advance of the World Cup in 2026,” an attorney with the City of Houston’s Legal Department said in a Nov. 27, 2024, email to the Department of Neighborhoods and Houston Permitting Center.
The city sent out inspectors to both properties so they can “consider (their) options and perhaps reach out to the owners to take down the buildings.”
The city also said there are “several other properties the city administration would like inspected.”
13 Investigates: Fixing Houston’s dangerous buildings is a ‘long and drawn-out process’
13 Investigates has reported on the city’s dangerous buildings list in the past and the long drawn out process to get these eyesores taken down.
It’s just decaying. It’s catching bats, gnats, rats, roaches, insects and diseases.
Houstonian David Valdez
“It’s just decaying. It’s catching bats, gnats, rats, roaches, insects and diseases,” David Valdez said as he waited at a bus stop near the St. Joseph’s Parkway property. “You look at the graffiti and then you look at all the woodwork over here boarded up on the windows and you can tell it’s abandoned.”
The city is also working to clean up graffiti, perform landscaping, restripe roads and fix sidewalks ahead of the World Cup games. They’re also planning to build a park on the east side of downtown near where a month-long fan fest party will be hosted next summer.
A recent study from the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs found that bad road conditions are actually residents’ top concern for the city.
In a Jan. 24, 2025, email to the Houston Public Works Director, the department’s communications director asks “Can you shed light on what HPW is doing ‘500 days to the World Cup’ for potholes? Is anything changing from our side? Are we looking at things different? The Mayor’s Office is asking for talking points and this is the first I’m hearing of this.”
The Public Works Director responds saying their message needs to be in alignment with what the Mayor previously told the contractors association.
“Our message really ought to be the fact that we’re getting Houston ready to be Houston every day. The World Cup is a special event, but our emphasis needs to be on fixing our problems today for everyone to enjoy all the time,” the Public Works director said.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire only took office in January 2024, and Houston was announced as a host city in 2022, but we wanted to why these city infrastructure projects can be deemed “high priority and aggressive” for the World Cup but not always year-round.
The Mayor’s office declined an interview about preparations leading into the World Cup. But, during a city council meeting in January, Whitmire doubled down on the need to make changes for residents.
We need to get it ready for Houstonians and if we get it ready for Houstonians and Harris County residents on a daily basis, we will be ready for FIFA.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire
“I go to meetings on a regular basis about how we have to improve ‘this’ or ‘that’ for the World Cup, and I interrupt them to say, ‘No, we need to get it ready for Houstonians and if we get it ready for Houstonians and Harris County residents on a daily basis, we will be ready for FIFA,'” Whitmire said.
Chase Murphy, who has lived in Houston the last eight years, said the city needs to make sure it cares more about its local community.
“We shouldn’t have to wait for large events like the World Cup coming. This is a melting pot. Hundreds of people move here every day and so we want to make sure that our city has a good reputation outside of all the external people coming from Europe and all other countries coming to our town,” Murphy said.
This story comes from our news partner ABC13 Houston.
