Narrative:

I was working the local control position; landing and departing runway 4. All of the other runways were closed. Runway 12L and 12R have been closed for multiple weeks for the change to runway 13L and 13R. Runway 35 was scheduled closed for I believe 3 hours for mowing. The traffic was light. All that I had was two departures for runway 4 at intersection kilo-1; and ops [vehicle] was requesting a runway inspection for runway 4. I also had aircraft X [helicopter] northbound out of the bravo airspace. I departed the first aircraft from the kilo-1 intersection; and was going to put airport vehicle on the runway for inspection; but decided to depart the second aircraft first.aircraft Y was told to line up and wait on runway 4 at intersection kilo-1. Aircraft Y read back the instruction to line up and wait on runway 4 at kilo-1. I did this because at kilo-1 both runway 4 and 35 intersect and I wanted to be sure aircraft Y would line up on the correct runway. It appeared as though aircraft Y was making the proper turn onto runway 4. I cleared aircraft Y for take-off on runway 4 at intersection kilo-1 with a left turn to 350. I went back to the radar to clear aircraft X out of the airspace. Before I did; the asde-X went into alarm and I turned back to see aircraft Y was on the departure roll on runway 35. I transmitted 'aircraft Y runway 17 is closed stop.' aircraft Y responded with an aborted takeoff clearance. Aircraft Y rolled down to the end of runway 35 and I turned them at the end; told them to cross runway 12R and join gulf. I was then relieved from the position.the main prevention for this specific scenario is to ensure that the aircraft is aligned with the proper runway every time before clearing them for take-off. Alert the aircraft to avoid confusion of the intersection; and if able avoid using that specific runway intersection if at all possible.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Houston-Hobby Tower Controller reported of an aircraft that was lined up for an incorrect runway. The Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE) alerted the Controller of the issue.

Narrative: I was working the local control position; landing and departing Runway 4. All of the other Runways were closed. Runway 12L and 12R have been closed for multiple weeks for the change to Runway 13L and 13R. Runway 35 was scheduled closed for I believe 3 hours for mowing. The traffic was light. All that I had was two departures for Runway 4 at intersection Kilo-1; and ops [vehicle] was requesting a Runway inspection for Runway 4. I also had Aircraft X [helicopter] northbound out of the Bravo airspace. I departed the first aircraft from the Kilo-1 intersection; and was going to put Airport Vehicle on the Runway for inspection; but decided to depart the second aircraft first.Aircraft Y was told to line up and wait on Runway 4 at intersection Kilo-1. Aircraft Y read back the instruction to line up and wait on Runway 4 at Kilo-1. I did this because at Kilo-1 both Runway 4 and 35 intersect and I wanted to be sure Aircraft Y would line up on the correct Runway. It appeared as though Aircraft Y was making the proper turn onto Runway 4. I cleared Aircraft Y for take-off on Runway 4 at intersection Kilo-1 with a left turn to 350. I went back to the radar to clear Aircraft X out of the airspace. Before I did; the ASDE-X went into alarm and I turned back to see Aircraft Y was on the departure roll on Runway 35. I transmitted 'Aircraft Y Runway 17 is closed stop.' Aircraft Y responded with an aborted takeoff clearance. Aircraft Y rolled down to the end of Runway 35 and I turned them at the end; told them to cross Runway 12R and join gulf. I was then relieved from the position.The main prevention for this specific scenario is to ensure that the aircraft is aligned with the proper Runway every time before clearing them for take-off. Alert the aircraft to avoid confusion of the intersection; and if able avoid using that specific Runway intersection if at all possible.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.