Most Congested Freeway (Texas)

[Voyager]

Since Texas has nearly 30 million people, you'd think that some of the freeways might get congested in places. Which ones are the worst there?

[agentsteel53]

I-35 in Austin can get pretty bad.  I was once stuck in bad rush hour traffic on I-10 in Houston but this is before they expanded it so likely it is better now.

[rawr apples]

deffinately 35 trough Austin.  Got stuck for an hour driving through at noon

[Alex]

U.S. 59 through Houston is very congested.

So is U.S. 75 (Central Expressway) in Dallas:

[Darkchylde]

The West Loop (IH 610) in Houston was always bad for traffic, as is IH 45 between the Outer Belt (Sam Houston Tollway/Beltway 8) and Downtown (specifically the interchange with IH 10).

[njroadhorse]

410 near the airport

[Greybear]

I have four nominations for worst traffic in the Dallas area. They are:

I-30 East  (East R.L. Thornton Frwy.) from downtown to Lake Ray Hubbard.

I-35E North (Stemmons Frwy.) from downtown to Lewisville (SH 121)

I-635 (L.B.J. Frwy) from I-35E all the way around to I-30

U.S. 75 (North Central Expressway) from downtown to McKinney

[austrini]

Ummm... I'd have to say all of them
The busiest are US 59 in Houston, US 75 in Richardson, and IH 635 in North Dallas (in that order).

The only one in Dallas that goes faster than 35 mph at 5pm on a weekday is the US 175 Hawn Freeway. That's just because it goes through the poorest areas of town where I assume no one has a job

[Voyager]

Nothing in El Paso is highly congested?

[Stephane Dumas]

Nothing in El Paso is highly congested?

Seems then I-10 is congested in downtown El Paso, there  a plan called for a bypass called "Northwest parkway" to remedy to it  http://www.txdot.gov/project_information/projects/el_paso/northeast_parkway.htm

[travelinmiles]

The worst freeways in the Fort Worth area are in the east and northeast suburbs such as 121 Airport Freeway through HEB and Grapevine.  SH 360 bad too coming out of the airport and really just about any freeway going through Grapevine is bad in "the funnel" where 121/114/635/26/1709/Int'l Parkway, oh and I-35W is rough in both directions.

[jgb191]

Got to mention my hometown in the mix....SH 358 popularly known as SPID in Corpus Christi is probably the busiest freeway in South Texas and might be right up there among the more congested in the state as well. 

I do think the I-35 Laredo and the US-83 between McAllen and Harlingen traffic are climbing as those metro areas are climbing fast in activity.

[Gridlock]

i;m not a Texan, but based on my experience I would nominate:

Houston - West Loop 610 - congested majority of day.  i've seen bumper-to-bumper as early as 6:30am and often past 7pm - tremendous concentration of office/retail in the area.  I believe the Galleria area (adjacent to West  Loop) would rank in the top 15 downtowns in the USA based on office space and has the tallest skyscraper outside a CBD.  TxDOT just redid the West Loop but didnt add any mainlanes, just lots of auxillary lanes and braided ramps.  The section between 290 and I-10 is slated for a major upgrade.

Dallas - LBJ (635) between Stemmons (I-35) and Central (US -75).  Its 10 lane (8+2 HOV) but jammed both directions much of the afternoon and evening on weekdays due to large concentrion of office buildings along it and the Tollway.  There were plans to add 4-lane HOT tunnels under LBJ for 2+ mile stretch in the Tollway/Galleria area to provide relief but I think that on indefinte hold due to cost

Austin - I-35 between downtown and US 183 and MOPAC (Loop 1) between downtown and US 183.  I-35 here is weird and dangerous including a section where original 4-lane is in a trench and 4 more lanes are elevated above but both levels have on/off ramps.  Loop 1 is 6 lane and has a RR track down the median.  Both highways have limited ROW for expansion.

[Marc]

I don't know if it's the most congested in the number of cars that it carries, but U.S. 290 in Houston always has the worst travel times. It's not uncommon for the Northwest Freeway to have 60 to 90 minute travel times in the mornings and afternoons. The worst section is from the I-610 to Beltway 8, which is only a few miles, but can sometimes take as much as 45 minutes to drive. This is the oldest section of 290 and only has three mainlanes in each direction.

[Darkchylde]

Houston - West Loop 610 - congested majority of day.  i've seen bumper-to-bumper as early as 6:30am and often past 7pm - tremendous concentration of office/retail in the area.  I believe the Galleria area (adjacent to West  Loop) would rank in the top 15 downtowns in the USA based on office space and has the tallest skyscraper outside a CBD.  TxDOT just redid the West Loop but didnt add any mainlanes, just lots of auxillary lanes and braided ramps.  The section between 290 and I-10 is slated for a major upgrade.

They couldn't really add any main lanes when they did that rebuild due to some severely cramped ROW. Can't build new lanes with skyscrapers only feet from the feeder roads, after all. The worst offender in that section is between US 59 and IH 10.

[Marc]

Houston - West Loop 610 - congested majority of day.  i've seen bumper-to-bumper as early as 6:30am and often past 7pm - tremendous concentration of office/retail in the area.  I believe the Galleria area (adjacent to West  Loop) would rank in the top 15 downtowns in the USA based on office space and has the tallest skyscraper outside a CBD.  TxDOT just redid the West Loop but didnt add any mainlanes, just lots of auxillary lanes and braided ramps.  The section between 290 and I-10 is slated for a major upgrade.

They couldn't really add any main lanes when they did that rebuild due to some severely cramped ROW. Can't build new lanes with skyscrapers only feet from the feeder roads, after all. The worst offender in that section is between US 59 and IH 10.

I believe there are plans (or proposed ideas at the least) to widen U.S. 290. When they do, I believe they are going to upgrade the mile or so of I-610 between the Northwest Freeway and the Katy Freeway. But as Darkangel said, it's the section just to the south that is the problem.

I believe upgrading the 59/610 interchange will do a lot of good though. It dates back pretty far, but 610 and 59 have both been modified to modern standards since then, thus creating backups on both freeways leading into the interchange. They probably don't have much room, but it seems like something could be done.

[Chris]

Houston is doing a pretty good job though on reducing congestion, I've read somewhere it was the only city to reduce traffic congestion of the last decade, while, as y'all probably know, there was a huge population boom at the same time.

[Marc]

Houston is doing a pretty good job though on reducing congestion, I've read somewhere it was the only city to reduce traffic congestion of the last decade, while, as y'all probably know, there was a huge population boom at the same time.

This is very true. I will admit, for the exception of a few freeways and bad spots, Houston is pretty easy to get around in. They finally got the Katy Freeway fixed to where you can go 70 m.p.h. during rush hour without worries. The Eastex Freeway is being extended to Cleveland and the North Freeway is being extended to Conroe.

The few problem spots, however, are usually in places that are tight in regards to space. The aforementioned 59/610 interchange has issues. As well as I-45 through downtown with its outdated design and ramps at Allen Parkway that have no merging space. The Gulf Freeway heading into downtown from about Spur 5 to 59/288 can also be annoying. And U.S. 290 is a given. Fixing these problems would probably make a lot of people happy.

[DrZoidberg]

I believe upgrading the 59/610 interchange will do a lot of good though. It dates back pretty far, but 610 and 59 have both been modified to modern standards since then, thus creating backups on both freeways leading into the interchange. They probably don't have much room, but it seems like something could be done.

Didn't 610 in the Galleria area recently go through a major overhaul?  Was the 610/59 interchange part of this?

[Darkchylde]

Didn't 610 in the Galleria area recently go through a major overhaul?  Was the 610/59 interchange part of this?

The IH 610/US 59 interchange underwent some improvement, but not a major or total reconfiguration. Some of the improvement I remember had the feeders for IH 610 flying over US 59 and some work on the IH 610 North to US 59 North ramp. Then again, I moved out of Houston before construction was complete, so I don't know the full scope of it.

[Marc]

Didn't 610 in the Galleria area recently go through a major overhaul?  Was the 610/59 interchange part of this?

The IH 610/US 59 interchange underwent some improvement, but not a major or total reconfiguration. Some of the improvement I remember had the feeders for IH 610 flying over US 59 and some work on the IH 610 North to US 59 North ramp. Then again, I moved out of Houston before construction was complete, so I don't know the full scope of it.

That's pretty much it. They also modified underneath the interchange with ramps that feed Westpark Tollway into the Galleria area via Post Oak. Other than that though, all the original ramps and flyovers are still in place.

As far as widening I-610, that's not so. They basically just rebuilt it with some additional braided ramps and wider frontage roads. As far as mainlanes go, it has the same amount it did before, it just looks prettier.

[Darkchylde]

As far as widening I-610, that's not so. They basically just rebuilt it with some additional braided ramps and wider frontage roads. As far as mainlanes go, it has the same amount it did before, it just looks prettier.

"Pretty" ain't getting me from SH 288 to IH 10 West any quicker.

[Marc]

As far as widening I-610, that's not so. They basically just rebuilt it with some additional braided ramps and wider frontage roads. As far as mainlanes go, it has the same amount it did before, it just looks prettier.

"Pretty" ain't getting me from SH 288 to IH 10 West any quicker.

Exactly. And they went over the top with the West Loop and Katy Freeway too. The overhead gantries do not have standard steel poles, rather, they are made out of molded concrete that has been made into a decorative design. Little too over the top for me. It may look nice, but really!?

[BigMattFromTexas]

I'll tell you one place it doesn't get congested
    San Angelo, Tx

[Sykotyk]

I-35 through most of the state desperately needs more traffic lanes.

I-10 is bad in El Paso only when it goes near the old 'downtown' area towards UTEP.

And most of Texas, expansion wise, is hamstrung by their use of frontage roads. Which congregates traffic to businesses right off the interstate.

Sykotyk