Houston ... We have a traffic question

[oohrah]

Will be passing thru Houston this Friday morning 8-9am, entering the area on US 290 going southeast, exiting I-10 eastbound.

I know traffic will be a disaster regardless, but wanted some recommendations on the best path. Tolls are OK.

[LucasMcCain]

I'm not from Houston, so a local may be able to give you better advice. However, when I have to go through there I take 610 to avoid the city center. I tried to take beltway 8 last time when going to Galveston, but the NE part of it was a toll road that you have to buy a special card or tag or something to use. You apparently can't pay cash or just let them mail you a bill like you can with the ones around DFW. I had pretty good luck with 610 the few times I have had to venture through that area. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[bayou]

Anytime I travel I use the waze app. There are different settings for avoiding tolls, etc. It will give you the best route based on the traffic patterns at the time. I believe most of Beltway 8 and I know all of 99 and the Hardy Toll are no cash.

[allisji]

Will be passing thru Houston this Friday morning 8-9am, entering the area on US 290 going southeast, exiting I-10 eastbound.

I know traffic will be a disaster regardless, but wanted some recommendations on the best path. Tolls are OK.

I live on the opposite side of Houston. I have only been on 290 a few times. My understanding about 290 is that it's the absolute worst.

My recommendation, if possible, is to leave an hour later to avoid rush hour traffic.

Taking the Beltway 8 North Toll Road will be a little longer distance, and take about the same amount of time. It still has traffic jams, especially on the free section between I45 and US59 but the traffic won't be as bad as on 290.

[allisji]

Anytime I travel I use the waze app. There are different settings for avoiding tolls, etc. It will give you the best route based on the traffic patterns at the time. I believe most of Beltway 8 and I know all of 99 and the Hardy Toll are no cash.

Yes, most of BW8 and all of Hardy Toll road are "EZ TAG ONLY"

So if you have a tollway pass I'd check online at HCTRA.org to make sure that it's compatible.

[Scott B.]

290 is in the later stages of a widening project and there's been a lot of joy around the 290/Beltway 8 and 290/610 interchanges and some resulting reconfiguration. Mornings, going in-bound, will be some of the heaviest traffic.

http://www.my290.com/

If time is an issue. You might pad your ETA.

[TXBO]

Do anything you can to avoid that time.

[sawdust]

You NEVER want to be in Houston traffic at 8-10. 290 inbound can be brutal with unexplained miles-long 0 mph tie-ups. Then you have I-10 East inbound to downtown to fight with. There is a lot of construction on 290, especially at the various interchanges. There is not a lot of signage to alert you.

There are a couple of options. If you are coming onto 290 north of Bryan, you could take Highway 21 over to Madisonville, or Hwy 30 to Huntsville (my personal choice), then I-45 into Houston. Or at Navasota, take Hwy 105 east to Conroe, then I-45. 105 has lots of traffic getting into Conroe, but I wouldn't put it in the nightmare class. 105 speed limits are heavily monitored. I-45 can be a nightmare in its own right.

If you are going as far east as Beaumont, 105 will take you there. I have never been on 105 east of Conroe. It probably continues as a 2-lane back road, but at least you are moving.


Good luck

[Wag2323]

Where are you coming from and where are you going after Houston? I live north of Houston and anytime I go into Louisiana on I-10 I avoid Houston all together and take HWY 105 to Beaumont. But that may be to far out of the way if you were planning to be on 290.

[Skiprr]

I live not far from 290 near Cypress, and I'm assuming you're coming from the Brenham area. If going south to I-10 via a detour on 36 isn't feasible, I'll offer some thoughts.

As mentioned, 290 is and has been under construction for quite some time now, and even we locals can get surprised from day to day by the changes. And almost any Saturday/Sunday driving requires advance research because, with some frequency, periodic closures--sometimes of major interchanges or even an entire side of the highway--providing unwanted surprises.

But 290 doesn't intersect with I-10, so you won't be exiting that way no matter which route you choose.

On the plus side, if you want to come in via 290, opening at 10:00 a.m. right at the Jones Road exit is the Freedom Munitions retail store, and they're having a 5% off sale on all in-stock pistol ammo.

As others have mentioned, the Grand Parkway (99) is toll-tag only, no toll booths. The Sam Houston Tollway (the Beltway), on the other hand, is not mostly toll-booth free, I'm hardly ever on the east side of town on the Beltway, but I travel it fairly regularly from I-45 in the southeast, all the way on the southside, the westside, and the stretch north from 290 to I-45 and can attest that there are manual-pay toll booths as well as no-stop toll-tag lanes all the way along. However, if you're going any distance, the sheer number of toll booths will be off putting. When I drive the PSC range, I go through six toll stations each way...without an EZ-Tag, I'd never go that route.

Another comment about I-610. It basically is the city center anymore, with the possible exception of its east and northeast bands. Anything I can do to avoid 610 West weekdays between 7:00 to 9:30, 11:00 to 1:00, and 3:30 to 7:00 (2:00 to 7:00 on Fridays), I do it.

I'd say you have two choices.

Option 1: take 290 to Beltway 8, then the Beltway south to I-10. You'll brave a longer stretch of 290 and its sometimes odd-looking lane structures to Beltway 8. The exit to the Beltway will be on your right after Jones Road. A new lane feeds into the Beltway at West Road, but that one is a forced exit at Jones. Another new lane is created at Jones, and that's the one you want to merge into. You'll curl right onto the Beltway.

The pretty consistent rule of thumb is that the three left-hand lanes will be toll-tag only at the stations. The manual-pay lanes are to the right. Some of those may be exact change only, so if not equipped or need a receipt, be sure steer farther right into an open attendant-occupied station. Merging back into the flow of Beltway traffic after manually paying toll must be...interesting when the traffic is heavy (when is it not?) and moving at a clip; I dunno; I haven't paid manually in over a decade. And FYI, the Beltway is posted at 65mph, but if you adhere to that, expect traffic to pass you like you were doing 55. That's one thing that makes merging so much fun.

The good news is that there's only one toll station between 290 and I-10. The exit to I-10 will be six miles from the time you start your curve from 290 to the Beltway. The exit will be on your right. The far right lane will go to I-10 westbound; the one next to that will curve left and feed into I-10 eastbound. That merge can be a bit of fun, too. You'll meet traffic coming in from the Beltway northbound, then both of you will jockey for position in the single lane--the one you're already on--that feeds onto I-10.

Entrance onto the freeway propper will be easy because a new lane is created there. But start moving to your left right away: that new lane is a forced exit at the next exit, Gessner. Depending on how you count, I-10 is up to nine lanes wide in this stretch. Five miles down the road, you'll come to the 610 interchange. Sounds like you intend to keep going east, so pay close attention to the lane markings you'll see shortly after the Chimney Rock exit. The four right-hand lanes are forced exits to 610, the far two lanes got 610 south, the next two to 610 north. The four interior lanes (not counting the toll-tag only lane to the far left) continue on east on I-10. I would recommend you not be in lane five, but in lanes six or seven. There is inevitable conflict in the innermost I-10 lane with the 610 lanes because people are either on their cell phones and forget to move over for 610, or they're trying at the last minute to make a mad dash into the I-10 lane because they forgot/didn't realize they were four lanes over and still in a forced exit lane.

Option Two: exit 290 at Highway 6 southbound; travel 9 1/4 miles south to I-10 and climb on eastbound. Slower with umpteen traffic lights the first five miles. The final four miles is through the Addicks ACOE land and you'll encounter only only a couple of lights until you come up on I-10.

There's even a bit of a shortcut to avoid the more hectic 290/Hwy 6 interchange: exit at Huffmeister, hang a right, and follow Huffmeister through a more residential area for about a mile until it intersects with Highway 6; hang a right onto Hwy 6...you'll have saved yourself a little traffic congestion plus about 0.8 miles of concrete.

Near the tail-end of that leg, there'll be an intersection with Patterson Road to your left, then unbroken ACOE land for about 1.4 miles before you come to the exit to I-10. Counterintuitively, you'll be exiting to your right, not the left. The left lanes continue over I-10. After that right-hand exit, stay to your left. After you cross under I-10, you'll turn left onto the frontage road and stay left to feed onto I-10. That entrance forms a new lane which is a forced exit, so you'll want to move to your left another lane after entering the freeway.

Ta da! A whole lotta words to describe two relatively simple routes. But I've lived in Houston continuously for the past 25 years. Trust me: even locals don't like to drive unknown routes.

[lildave40]

If you dont have a toll tag it would be faster to hit the belt hang a left and ride the feeder around than mess with that traffic.

[KD5NRH]

Go to Huntsville, cut across to Jasper, and only then think about turning southward again.

[Vol Texan]

I'd say you have two choices.

Option 1: take 290 to Beltway 8, then the Beltway south to I-10.

Option Two: exit 290 at Highway 6 southbound; travel 9 1/4 miles south to I-10 and climb on eastbound.

Or Option 3: Take 290 to 99, then south to I-10. Turn east on I-10, and use the HOV as soon as you can (if you have 2 or more people in the car), and then take the managed lanes as soon as you can, even if you're not HOV. Managed lanes = there are tollbooths, but if you're HOV, you don't have to pay.

Bottom line is this: get to I-10 when and where you can - the sooner, the better. Check the links I've added to all three options above to see what they look like.

They've done a good job on I-10, and it usually moves better than you'd expect.

[Skiprr]

I'd say you have two choices.

Option 1: take 290 to Beltway 8, then the Beltway south to I-10.

Option Two: exit 290 at Highway 6 southbound; travel 9 1/4 miles south to I-10 and climb on eastbound.

Or Option 3: Take 290 to 99, then south to I-10. Turn east on I-10, and use the HOV as soon as you can (if you have 2 or more people in the car), and then take the managed lanes as soon as you can, even if you're not HOV. Managed lanes = there are tollbooths, but if you're HOV, you don't have to pay.

Bottom line is this: get to I-10 when and where you can - the sooner, the better. Check the links I've added to all three options above to see what they look like.

They've done a good job on I-10, and it usually moves better than you'd expect.

The route on 99 (the Grand Parkway) and the I-10 managed lanes assume the OP has an EZ Tag or TxTag, which he didn't indicate he did. There are no manual toll booths on either, and they can't be used without an automated tag. Mucho notices, bills, and probably extra fines will be in the mail to the registered owner of the license plate that goes through those toll sensors without a tag.

[Vol Texan]

The route on 99 (the Grand Parkway) and the I-10 managed lanes assume the OP has an EZ Tag or TxTag, which he didn't indicate he did. There are no manual toll booths on either, and they can't be used without an automated tag. Mucho notices, bills, and probably extra fines will be in the mail to the registered owner of the license plate that goes through those toll sensors without a tag.

Good point - no toll tag would make these routes no good. Some folks in McClennan County (where the OP is from) may have TxTag, which does work well in the EZ Tag roads also - so if he has one, then all is OK.