Sam Houston Tollway at Rush Hour? (Austin: home, construction, move)

[AusParent]

We have to drive from Austin to SE Houston Friday. If we leave when planned, we will hit Houston at rush hour. Will Sam Houston move at a reasonable speed or should we try to leave work early?

[RVD26]

Try to leave work early, especially for when you hit the western portion of the tollway.

[tstone]

The west and southwest parts will be busy. The south and southeast parts run through a more desolate part of town and flow at posted speeds on a usual day.

[davidtk]

The above answers are right on. I can see the west tollway from my office, and I drive that way home each day. The west part will be busy until you hit 59, at which point it will eventually clear up after another mile or so. It should be smooth sailing from there unless there's an accident.

Having said that, even with the rush hour backup, I don't think it will add more than 15 minutes to your drive time. Personally, I'd avoid it if your schedule is flexible but I wouldn't rearrange my whole day around it.

[XodoX]

If your taking I-1o, I would just stay on I-10 and get on I-45. Yeah, it does get busy once you hit 610, but you said "we", so you could use the HOV lane.

[tstone]

I would personally avoid I-45 inside the loop during rush hour. You could use the HOV but from I-10 you will still do the curve around downtown skyscrapers, past the 288/59 interchange, and onto the downtown streets which is literally crawling to reach the I-45 HOV entrance.

http://www.ridemetro.org/SchedulesMaps/HOV/i45s.aspx

I'd spend the few bucks to avoid this mess, but that's just me.

[lanewidick]

If you plan on taking 290 instead of 10 to Austin, I would be much more concerned about 290 off the Beltway instead of the actual Beltway at Rush Hour.

[tstone]

That's another thing I wouldn't consider... 290 from Austin- no way. I wouldn't consider anything other than 71 to I-10. You can also use the tollways around the east side of Austin to get to 71, if you're out that way.

290 sucks not only in Houston but there are just too many slow-downs between Austin and Houston on that route.

OP- what part of the SE side are you going to? That covers a pretty big area.

[Oildog]

Dont forget the I-10 construction going East at I-45, that has slowed 10 up quite a bit inside the Loop. I'd leave early.

[EasilyAmused]

71 to 10 the Beltway South. Avoid 290 at all costs. It may be shorter on paper, but the traffic is insane.

The Beltway isn't bad around I-10 and south, but if you are going North at evening rush, then you plan to park.

If you hit the Beltway coming in on 290 in the morning: One, you will crawl on 290 all the way into the Beltway, then park at the Toll Booths trying to get south.