arterial road
An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. Bissonnet begins at Main Street in the Museum District of Houston and travels west-southwest through
West University Place
West University Place, often called West University or West U for short, is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area and southwestern Harris County, Texas, Harris County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. ...
Sharpstown
Sharpstown is a master-planned community in the Southwest Management District (formerly Greater Sharpstown), Southwest Houston, Texas.Alief before terminating in unincorporated Fort Bend County near Mission Bend. Within the Interstate 610 loop, Bissonnet serves or passes a number of historic Houston neighborhoods, including Boulevard Oaks,
Southampton
Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...
Houston Press
The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017.
The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...
'' named Bissonnet the "Best Route into the City" in its 2007 awards, noting the road's route through "economically and ethnically diverse neighborhoods."
Like many other Houston streets established during the early 20th century, Bissonnet is named for a local
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
serviceman who was killed while in the military, George Herman Bissonnet. Prior to 1915, portions of Bissonnet were known as County Poor Farm Road due to their connectivity to the Harris County Poor Farm, a public housing facility which operated between 1894 and 1935.
A site at the intersection of Bissonnet Street and Ashby Street in Southampton has been the focus of considerable controversy since the mid-2000s, when a 21-story apartment tower was first proposed for the lot. The "Ashby highrise" development generated strong backlash from area homeowners, who consider the building incompatible with their predominantly single-family neighborhood. The site has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and has spurred a wider discussion about Houston's lack of
zoning
Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a s ...
laws.
In 2013, the
Houston Police Department
The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fifth-largest ...
staged an operation, the "Bissonnet Initiative", which resulted in the arrest of more than 100 people involved in a prostitution ring at the intersection of Bissonnet and Beechnut near
Beltway 8
Beltway 8 (BW8), the Sam Houston Parkway, along with the Sam Houston Tollway, is an beltway around the city of Houston, Texas, United States, lying entirely within Harris County.
Beltway 8, a state highway maintained by the Texas ...