NW Houston Commute Times

[Malvie]

Originally Posted by psu tom

Malvie,
I just re-read and it was you that mentioned 9-6.
Is the traffic really much lighter than 8-5?
Thanks.

Yes, there is a noticeable difference between 9-6 and 8-5. My current commute is easy; before this job, though, my old commute was a bear---West Houston straight down the Katy Freeway past downtown to US 59, then up 59. You could tell a definite difference between 8 and 9 am, same in the afternoon. I had to go through 5 major interchanges. On a beautiful, sunny day with no traffic and no worries, it took me 30 minutes to drive the 19 miles. On a day with severe thunderstorms and flash flooding--it took me almost 3 hours (!) to get home. Usually, about 45 minutes 9-6, about an hour 8-5. The extra 15 minutes makes a difference to me, that's 30 minutes a day out of my life...

[psu tom]

Why is 290 so much worse than 249?
On the map, it appears that the areas surrounding 249 are more densely populated than 290.

[RCH99]

290 goes where people want to go. 249 dumps you into the same mess when you get to I-45

[Malvie]

Originally Posted by psu tom

Why is 290 so much worse than 249?
On the map, it appears that the areas surrounding 249 are more densely populated than 290.

Going into town:

Look at your map as you read this. 290 dumps into IH 610, the Loop. 610 is busy all the way around; it's the original "Loop" (designed in 1955 and reconstructed endlessly since then). Since the Loop was designed and built, the Galleria Area has grown up between IH 10 and US 59. That area is bigger and has more office space than downtown Denver. There are too many entrances and exits (these were fine in 1955 when this was the edge of town).

IH 10 goes from Florida to California, intersecting the 2nd largest port in the US here in Houston (i.e., there's LOTS of traffic on IH 10). Since the earliest days, Houston has grown in all directions but the primary growth has been resolutely west--there's a LOT of traffic coming from IH 10 West (the freeway is 30 lanes wide...).

So you have all that traffic feeding from IH 10 West into the Galleria Area, coupled with all the "around the Loop" traffic. The intersection of US 59 and IH 610 is the busiest intersection in the State of Texas, averaging 400,000 cars a day (and only slightly behind the 101/405 interchange in LA at 500,000 a day). The West Loop (from 290 to US 59) is pretty much stop-and-go 24/7/365 (sometimes it gets all the way up to 20-30 mph).

What that means is that traffic from 290 coming onto the West Loop is going to slow down at the interchange. This then stacks 290 inbound, starting at about 6:00 am.

Outbound, the stack-up extends outward in the same general way, except that it does start to thin out past Beltway 8.

290 was wide open when I moved to Houston in 1979, but it's too narrow to carry the load at this point. Plus, there are a LOT of buildings/businesses up and down the length of it inside the Beltway, adding their own cars to the mix.

249, on the other hand, stops at a much more modern (and less crowded, but getting more so every day) interchange at the Beltway. There are not nearly the number of high rise office buildings along the 249 route, and the road is built far better (fewer entrances/exits, more lanes). So it's heavy, but nothing on the order of 290.

But cheer up--you won't be working in either the Galleria Area or downtown--those get REALLY interesting, the Galleria especially during CHRISTMAS, when traffic comes to a dead standstill/gridlock.

[psu tom]

Excellent description. That helps alot.
Hopefully there are malls in the NW so I don't need to venture to this Galleria area at Christmas!

[Malvie]

Originally Posted by psu tom

Excellent description. That helps alot.
Hopefully there are malls in the NW so I don't need to venture to this Galleria area at Christmas!

They're just as bad...

Willowbrook Mall is very nice. So is Memorial City (IH 10 at Gessner).

I try to avoid them like the plague...online shopping, baby!

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by Malvie

They're just as bad...

Willowbrook Mall is very nice. So is Memorial City (IH 10 at Gessner).

I try to avoid them like the plague...online shopping, baby!

LOL - Amazon.com has served me well during the last two Christmases. AND I don't have to deal with the U.S. Post Office.