I-10 Eastbound Houston, Texas Freeway Video . Americas Widest Freeway (Dallas: rail, engineering)

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by stoneclaw

not quite 10 yrs, but getting close.

They were on those bridges back in late 2001-2002 when there were only 3 of them...I remember it very well.

59 was a decaying sloped concrete wall on both sides with weeds growing out of it & the freeway wasn't below grade like it is now. It was only like 8 lanes total if I recall correctly & there were no HOV lanes.

I have to agree with what others have said about it being a less aesthetically pleasing version of North Central Expressway in Dallas & not nearly as long.

[stoneclaw]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

They were on those bridges back in late 2001-2002 when there were only 3 of them...I remember it very well.

59 was a decaying sloped concrete wall on both sides with weeds growing out of it & the freeway wasn't below grade like it is now. It was only like 8 lanes total if I recall correctly & there were no HOV lanes.

I have to agree with what others have said about it being a less aesthetically pleasing version of North Central Expressway in Dallas & not nearly as long.

I know its not a big deal, but i remember them being on through 2006/2007 timeframe.

And in my post, i also agreed that NCE/75 had a better design and structure to it. I was just pointing out that there aren't that many similarities between them which would warrant someone to say it was a knockoff of Dallas

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by stoneclaw

I know its not a big deal, but i remember them being on through 2006/2007 timeframe.

And in my post, i also agreed that NCE/75 had a better design and structure to it. I was just pointing out that there aren't that many similarities between them which would warrant someone to say it was a knockoff of Dallas

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

Metro Matt nailed it.. 59 where it drops under street level between downtown and the west loop would be Houstons vomparison to 75 for sure.
Dee, the 5 stacks in Dallas may give i-10 a run for its money but there is a lot more to Houston than i-10.

Don't quite know what a "Vomparison" is...but Houstonians made the comparison first.

[TexasTallest]

Originally Posted by dallasboi

I-10 in Houston is nice. 635 wont be as wide but it will be just as beautiful and far more interesting to drive on.

thats a matter of opinion..

Originally Posted by dallasboi

IMO 59 in Houston is a horrible knock-off of 75 in Dallas.....nice try!

how is 59 a horrible knock off of 75 if 59 came first? if anything, 75 is a rip off of 59. 75 may be more visually appealing to you, but like others have mentioned, 75 doesnt have the ivy growing on the walls, or the arch bridges overhead.

[dallasboi]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

thats a matter of opinion..



how is 59 a horrible knock off of 75 if 59 came first? if anything, 75 is a rip off of 59. 75 may be more visually appealing to you, but like others have mentioned, 75 doesnt have the ivy growing on the walls, or the arch bridges overhead.

Uhh...... 75 was done way before the 59 re-do. The bridges dont have entrance and exit ramps??? The Arches are "Fluff" you cant access them. The lights on the arches as someone mentioned earlier haven't worked in years. The moss on the walls is really an afterthought and not really appealing to the eye.Its supposed to bea trenched freeway but onlyfeels 5 feet deep..in other words its a horrible knock-off of 75 in Dallas.It feels more like I-30 west from downtown Dallas.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by TexasTallest

thats a matter of opinion..



how is 59 a horrible knock off of 75 if 59 came first? if anything, 75 is a rip off of 59. 75 may be more visually appealing to you, but like others have mentioned, 75 doesnt have the ivy growing on the walls, or the arch bridges overhead.

That's because all of Dallas' plants died in last Summers drought. LOL

Its either too hot or too cold in North Texas. They'd better think of something that can survive those two extremes if they ever want to have greenery along 75.

Houston doesn't require an irrigation system for its creeping ivy on the 59 retaining walls because it thrives in the constant humidity along the Gulf Coast. New Orleans is full of that same stuff on its historic buildings in & around the French Quarter. The ivy grows so darn fast though its starting to cling onto those contemporary steel street light poles!!!

We also have some of that same exact creeping ivy along a roadway retaining wall here in Tyler & I've seen it bounce back from both hard freezes & extreme droughts...that's how hard it is to kill it...you can't.

[MBrames 119]

Originally Posted by Trae713

In your video, you say I-10 was 4 lanes on each side before the reconstruction. It was actually only three lanes on each side! Could you imagine what the traffic would be like today if the freeway was still in that configuration?

I agree with you that it was 3 lanes! Yes I can imagine what traffic would be like today if the freeway was still in that configuration! That's what it is on the West Loop Frwy, esp between the Katy Frwy and IH 69! The West Loop is even 4 lns in each direction!

[MBrames 119]

Originally Posted by timtemtym

You wouldn't believe how bad it was back in the 90's early 2000's before they started to widen it. 3 lanes inbound, 3 lanes out and 2 lanes service road. They did have Old Katy road running parallel to it, that is now the outbound service road. It really separated the western suburbs from central Houston to where you didn't leave the westside unless you REALLY had to. Now that it's 4 times the capacity, it's amazing to see how much west Houston has boomed again.

I'd imagine the energy corridor wouldn't have taken off nearly as much if that hadn't been done. It will be neat to see what the 290 corridor looks like when they do the same to that freeway.

I also remember 59 when it went down to 2 lanes in each direction when you got to Sugar Land. That was crazy!

Today, the West Loop Frwy, esp between the Katy Frwy and IH 69, broke the record of the Katy Frwy in the 90's and Early 2000's! The day construction ever ended on the Katy Frwy, the West Loop then took over with the worse traffic! The lns of frwy is 4 lns each side and 3 ln service rds each side! The West Loop as soon as possible needs to be widened! When doing so, businesses on both sides must be uplifted to do so! Then the West Loop will have extra lns, not just then Today's West Loop, even more than the extra lns of the Katy Frwy! Unlike businesses that relocated along the Katy Frwy, businesses along the West Loop still stay, however will be up on stilts above the Widened West Loop, esp above the service rds! The widening will be unlike the Katy Frwy, it too will be with double decking! That'll be that their'll be a lower deck underground express!

[MBrames 119]

Originally Posted by jd433

Living in katy and commuting downtown every day this is my main route. I can not believe how much traffic there is on this freeway even after widening it so much. I moved here in 2008 right before it was completed so I never saw how it was before but this freeway is incredible. I am almost afraid to go into the far left lane because you have to cross over so many lanes to get on and off the freeway and believe me people drive like crazy on this stretch. There really does not seem to be a speed limit enforced. I think the only thing the police are concerned about is that you do not abuse the HOV/Toll lanes. It cost 4 dollars to go downtown during peak traffic and I heard that this freeway cost 2.5 Billion dollars to build. When you approach the I-10 Beltway 8 interchange the view of this freeway is truely awesome people who have visited me from other areas have just been in awe of this freeway. It really is a massive almost futuristic looking freeway.

What you ever say you didn't see of the Katy Frwy before! Just go to the West Loop Frwy, esp between the Katy Frwy and IH 69! That'll show you of the Katy Frwy before! Plus, the West Loop, between the Katy Frwy and IH 69, is even worse than that! Once the West Loop passes it's future reconstruction, the West Loop will be even more futuristic than the Katy, It's not just only widening, it too will be with double decking, such as the lower deck is an u underground express! After the future widening of the West Loop, you'd not just be afraid of the far left lane, you'd even be afraid of the 2 left lns, all because of more lns to ever cross on the Future Widened West Loop!

[Mark Senior]

I did not notice the utube mistake in 2013 when I first posted on here. Did anyone notice, the video is actually I-10 West not I-10 EAST. In the video you are traveling WEST on I-10, the video did not show, as best as I could tell, that the videos STARTED downtown, or at Loop 610 West, to me it LOOKS like it started farther out west on I-10 West than with the intersection of Loop 610?

Anyway, this is ALL on I-10 WEST not East. HUGE difference if you live in Houston, you would know.

I know it's west, because the exits shown or all on I-10 West.