{{Short description|Street in Houston, Texas, U.S.}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox street | name = Bissonnet Street | marker_image = | map = | length_mi = 19 | length_km = | length_round = | length_ref = <ref name="chron">{{Cite news|url=https://www.chron.com/bellaire/news/article/Bissonnet-carries-a-long-history-3993739.php|title=Bissonnet carries a long history|last=Meeks|first=Flori|date=October 30, 2012|work=The Houston Chronicle|access-date=March 31, 2018}}</ref> | inauguration_date = 1915<ref name="chron" /> | allocation = | direction_a = West | terminus_a = Westmoor Drive, Fort Bend County | junction = Beltway 8<br />Interstate 69 (Southwest Freeway)<br />Interstate 610 (West Loop South) | direction_b = East | terminus_b = Main Street in the Houston Museum District }}
'''Bissonnet Street''' is a major arterial road in Houston, Texas, United States. Bissonnet begins at Main Street in the Museum District of Houston and travels {{Convert|19.4|mi|km}} west-southwest through West University Place, Bellaire, Gulfton, Sharpstown, and 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 and Shadyside. The ''Houston Press'' named Bissonnet the "Best Route into the City" in its 2007 awards, noting the road's route through "economically and ethnically diverse neighborhoods."<ref>"[http://www.houstonpress.com/bestof/2007/award/best-route-into-the-city-605058/ Best Route into the City Bissonnet]." ''Houston Press''. Retrieved on November 2, 2009.</ref>
Like many other Houston streets established during the early 20th century, Bissonnet is named for a local World War I serviceman who was killed while in the military, George Herman Bissonnet.<ref name="chron" /> 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.<ref name="chron" />
A {{Convert|1.6|acre|m2|adj=on}} 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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/2-years-after-court-ruling-Ashby-high-rise-7384486.php|title=2 years after court ruling, Ashby high-rise remains unbuilt|last=Mulvaney|first=Erin|date=April 29, 2016|work=Houston Chronicle|access-date=March 31, 2018}}</ref> The "Ashby highrise" development generated strong backlash from area homeowners, who consider the building incompatible with their predominantly single-family neighborhood.<ref name=":0" /> The site has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and has spurred a wider discussion about Houston's lack of zoning laws.<ref name=":0" />
In 2013, the Houston Police Department staged an operation, the "Bissonnet Initiative", which resulted in the arrest of more than 100 people involved in a prostitution ring on both Bissonnet and Beechnut near Beltway 8.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.khou.com/news/crime/More-than-100-arrested-in-prostitution-sting--207301501.html|title=HPD: More than 100 arrested in prostitution sting|date=May 13, 2013|website=KHOU|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814052123/http://www.khou.com/news/crime/More-than-100-arrested-in-prostitution-sting--207301501.html|archivedate=August 14, 2013|url-status=dead|accessdate=July 31, 2013}}</ref> The prostitution is rampant at the “Bissonnet “blade,” also known as the Bissonnet “track” and has included the sexual exploitation of minors.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/06/05/bissonnet-trafficker-known-as-glizzy-gets-over-30-years-for-forcing-teens-to-engage-in-sex-acts/ | title=Bissonnet trafficker known as 'Glizzy' gets over 30 years for forcing teens to engage in sex acts | date=June 5, 2024 }}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Texas|Prostitution}} * Red-light district
==References== <references/>
Category:Roads in Houston Category:Red-light districts in Texas