Tag Archives: Texas Department of Transportation

This Just in – Houston Highways are Congested!

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In what can hardly be called news, the Texas Department of Transportation has revealed that 44 of the State’s most congested roadways are in – of all places – Houston.  Even less surprising is that the stretch of the I-610 West Loop between I-69 and I-10 is the worst.  Red thanks TxDOT for this valuable information, but is still wondering why nothing was done to relieve congestion when that part of the West Loop was rebuilt about a decade ago. Yes that entire stretch was rebuilt and not a single land was added – with the exception of additional entrance/exit ramps crossing the I-69 interchange.   KHOU reports

 The annual hours of delay per mile along that one stretch is more than 1.1 million hours.

We  asked TxDOT, specifically, about what it’s doing to improve the worst stretch. For starters, connectors at 610 and the Southwest Freeway are being modified. And it plans to build elevated express lanes over the existing loop in the years to come.

High Water Shuts Down Texas-Louisiana Border

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Texas Department of Transportation announced that Interstate 10 at the Sabine River has been closed due to high water.

Due to continued flooding from excessive rainfall along the Texas-Louisiana state line, the Texas Department of Transportation has closed Interstate 10 near the state line.

The closure is needed because the Sabine River is  cresting above flood stage and dumping water into the low-lying eastbound mainlanes of the interstate near Orange.  Louisiana is expected to block westbound traffic as well.

If you are travelling to Louisiana there are not a lot of alternatives.  TXDOT is telling drivers leaving Houston to avoid the area entirely by crossing the Sabine on Interstate 20 which would be an approximately 250 mile detour.

Relief for Stalled Drivers

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The Texas Department of Transportation has revealed a $1.3 billion plan to reduce congestion on Texas’ most jammed freeways.  The Texas Tribune reports that TxDOT will focus on 14 hotspots in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Fort Worth.

The largest amount of state funding — $262 million — is going toward relieving congestion on parts of I-35 and U.S. 67 in Dallas. Another $210 million is also going toward I-10 in Houston. The proposal also allocates $148.6 million toward three different projects on I-35 in Austin, a portion of which topped TxDOT’s most recent annual list of the 100 most congested roadways in the state.

While TxDOT regularly allocates funding for road projects around the state, the size of Wednesday’s announcement and the focus on the state’s five largest cities was unusual. 

Bugg said the agency is focusing on cities because they are home to two-thirds of the state’s total population, which means they also possess some of the most jam-packed roads.  “Kind of a corollary of being home to two-thirds of the Texas population, those five major metropolitan areas are also home to 99 percent of Texas’ top 100 congested roads,” Bugg said. Bugg said Wednesday’s proposal is only the initial phase of a larger effort by TxDOT to clear Texas roads, something that would require further funding down the line. 

If I can just get off of that [Austin] freeway without getting killed or caught . . .

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Jerry Jeff Walker should be singing about freeways in Texas.  Any laments about an L.A. Freeway are passé, and JJW need only travel a few miles in his attempt to avoid getting killed or caught. The Texas Department of Transportation has issued its annual Top 100 Congested Roadways  list and I-35 in Austin from Hwy 290 to Hwy 71 has been named the most congested stretch of highway in the state.  The stretch of I-35 (known to long-time Austin residents as “Interregional”) has surpassed the West Loop in Houston to claim the number one place in Texas to while away the hours waiting in traffic.  Fortunately, Red’s intimate knowledge of Austin’s highways and byways allows him to generally avoid the parking lot that is I-35 whenever he graces the Capital City with his presence.  In Houston, however, the West Loop can be damn near unavoidable because of the complete absence of crossings of Buffalo Bayou in the western part of the Inner Loop area.

Photo from the TXDOT.