The Texas Department of Transportation broke ground this month on a covered pedestrian bridge over the Union Pacific rail corridor in Houston’s East End, a crossing named for a Milby High School student killed on the tracks in December 2024.
The Sergio Ivan Rodriguez Memorial Pedestrian Bridge will give students and residents a grade-separated route across a corridor that neighbors had long flagged as dangerous, according to a Sept. 17 TxDOT news release. The agency said Sergio Rodriguez, 15, died while attempting to cross the tracks on his way to school, and that his death renewed urgency behind a crossing community leaders had sought for years.
Cecilia Rodriguez, the teen’s mother, spoke at the groundbreaking yards from where her son died. “This bridge means much more than a simple structure that will allow young people to cross from one side to the other. For my family, it is a permanent reminder that my son died far too soon,” she said in Spanish, according to the release. “I will carry that pain forever. But we want to transform that pain into something that will save lives.”
The Texas Legislature appropriated $10 million for construction. State Sen. Carol Alvarado, a Milby graduate whose district includes the school, championed the funding. “Sergio’s death was preventable. It resulted from the kind of neglect and indifference that Houston’s East End has known for far too long,” Alvarado said, adding that the project delivers “a measure of justice” for the family, the school and the neighborhood.
TxDOT said the project advanced in less than two years, a pace the agency attributed to coordination among the department, the city of Houston, Union Pacific Railroad, Houston Independent School District, state lawmakers and community partners. Glenn Allbritton, TxDOT Houston district engineer, said a project of that scope would typically take several years to move from concept to construction, and that partners worked together on property, environmental, design and railroad requirements so the work could move quickly without relaxing safety and engineering standards.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire, who attended alongside Texas Transportation Commissioner Steve Alvis and members of the Rodriguez family, said every student should be able to walk to school safely. Alvis said the project reflects the agency’s safety commitment statewide, calling safety “a promise we owe to every Texas family.”
The finished structure will include a covered crossing over the Union Pacific tracks, ADA-compliant switchback ramps, lighting and weather protection. TxDOT said the bridge is expected to open in January 2027.