Through or around Houston, TX

[Capt. Mike]

We will be travelling through Houston, TX on Saturday afternoon, March 21. What is anyone's experience? Is it better to stay on I-69 all the way through on a Saturday, or take I-610 around the downtown area? And if I-610, should I stay to the west or to the east of downtown?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

[ArubaGeorgetown]

Where are you going - you mention 69 south ?

First - All Houston traffic sucks - my biggest recommendation would be take the toll road around SH99. That way you would avoid all Houston traffic and the toll moves pretty quickly

[EdJunior]

I take it you will be coming from the north to the south?? It's really going to depend on the time, though on a Saturday not so much. If you go through between 10am and about 3pm, you should be golden going straight through. After about 3pm, it can be a bit difficult, but again, on a Saturday it could be completely clear. Saturday is a hard day to judge. Still at worst (barring an accident or construction), the worst of your traffic would be right downtown, between I-10 and the 288/59/I-69 split. Once you are on the south side of town, it should clear up for you. Check for construction on that day, and check your times.

I honestly don't know about 610 anymore. I do know there has been a lot of construction on the west side, and it is pretty notoriously busy anyway, so if you were to consider 610, the east side would be the better choice. But I don't know what construction is going on on that side right now.

Good luck.

[Capt. Mike]

Originally Posted by EdJunior

I take it you will be coming from the north to the south?? It's really going to depend on the time, though on a Saturday not so much. If you go through between 10am and about 3pm, you should be golden going straight through. After about 3pm, it can be a bit difficult, but again, on a Saturday it could be completely clear. Saturday is a hard day to judge. Still at worst (barring an accident or construction), the worst of your traffic would be right downtown, between I-10 and the 288/59/I-69 split. Once you are on the south side of town, it should clear up for you. Check for construction on that day, and check your times.

I honestly don't know about 610 anymore. I do know there has been a lot of construction on the west side, and it is pretty notoriously busy anyway, so if you were to consider 610, the east side would be the better choice. But I don't know what construction is going on on that side right now.

Good luck.

Thank you. We are actually going to be heading north, after spending the winter in Port A. We are headed up US 59 to Lufkin, TX.

[tomkatb]

Drove 59 just last January. Some construction. 37' fiver.

Daughter lives near Lake Houston, near the park at the south of the lake.

We avoid the toll roads. The road paralleling the toll road is no big deal. Wide and the crazy's speed like mad.

Houston is normally during non rush hour no big deal. However, there is the occasional daily clown. Seen more issues on the other loop when we go downtown.

[CharlesHerrera]

Avoid 610 at all cost. That will be the final weekend of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo so the traffic will be a nightmare. Taking 59 (I69) would be your best bet.

[sctheis]

They are doing construction on some of the US-59 / IAH-69 connections. I am not sure that all will be completed by then. I'd suggest taking the Grand Parkway (SH99) from the Richmond / Rosenberg area around the northwest side of town, well outside of Houston traffic. Grand Parkway is a toll road and requires EasyTag. Another alternate toll road possibility is The Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8) it is a little closer in, but still outside of the Loop (IAH-610) and downtown. While BW-8 is a toll road, it does have toll booths that will allow you to pay if you don't have a Texas EasyTag responder. I live on the western suburbs of Houston and will always take a toll road SH-99 or BW-8) any time I am hauling my TT around Houston. We have made frequent trips up US59 / IAH69 to the Longview area.

[eaglecrest]

Just came through there 3 weeks ago. We circled around on the Sam Houston toll road - well worth the cost because we have taken I-10 and I45 during mid day and it's a mess.

[medalguy]

47 year resident of Houston, gone and glad of it. I agree with scthels, take Beltway 8 all the way around. We were just in Houston visiting our daughter and there is still construction on 59/69 going through downtown. And avoid 610 - it's always a mess. If you come that way very often, get an EZ Tag. No cost except for the tolls and it sure saves a ton of time.

[GlowPlug]

Take the bull by the horns and go straight through. Time of day is critical, 10am-2pm you should have very minimal problems any day of the week.

Outside those hours except early early mornings and after 7:00pm you will experience Houston traffic no matter which route you take.

Remember, any Day on this side of the Grass is such a Great Time. And with that, Go Out and have a Good Day on purpose.
Gary

[HoustonTex56]

x2...stay off of 610.

Originally Posted by EdJunior

I take it you will be coming from the north to the south?? It's really going to depend on the time, though on a Saturday not so much. If you go through between 10am and about 3pm, you should be golden going straight through. After about 3pm, it can be a bit difficult, but again, on a Saturday it could be completely clear. Saturday is a hard day to judge. Still at worst (barring an accident or construction), the worst of your traffic would be right downtown, between I-10 and the 288/59/I-69 split. Once you are on the south side of town, it should clear up for you. Check for construction on that day, and check your times.

I honestly don't know about 610 anymore. I do know there has been a lot of construction on the west side, and it is pretty notoriously busy anyway, so if you were to consider 610, the east side would be the better choice. But I don't know what construction is going on on that side right now.

Good luck.

[Big Bill]

There’s no good way around Houston,traffic can backup any time ,and 59 is under construction, so depending where u r headed avoid 59 , so I’ve found Sunday About noon,but been fooled to.😀

[EdJunior]

Originally Posted by Capt. Mike

Thank you. We are actually going to be heading north, after spending the winter in Port A. We are headed up US 59 to Lufkin, TX.

Ah, okay. Well, I think my suggestions still stand. On a Saturday, between 10am and 3pm you should be okay coming straight through. I would also agree with BW8, though if I remember correctly, on the SE side (if you go East) there was some construction last time we were on it (about a month or so ago, maybe a little longer). That could really mess things up. BW8 on the west side has been known to be pretty bad with traffic, but again, Saturday changes things so it might not be so bad.

And I would definitely agree with the Grand Parkway, if you don't mind the tolls. But it is only complete on the west side. I'm not sure if it actually is complete all the way to I-69/59. But it would definitely be the easiest.

[HoustonTex56]

I live on the SW side of Houston (Richmond). It's a lot further around on 99 and it can be bad coming through Katy anytime (the section of 99 that is not a toll road). Most of the time between 9am and 3:30pm, the quickest route is 59/69 straight through. Google maps is good at identifying the quickest route at any given time.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by Capt. Mike

Thank you. We are actually going to be heading north, after spending the winter in Port A. We are headed up US 59 to Lufkin, TX.

From Port Aransas to Lufkin you have a couple of choices.
Just take I69/59 straight through the center of town.
You're probably going to get some rodeo traffic, but 610 won't help that. On South 610 you'll run into rodeo traffic (It's the last weekend and the main route to the stadium is 610). On the west you'll run into closures and horrendous traffic.
You could take the Sam Houston Tollway east (Hwy 8). According to Google, it'd add around 25 miles and with no traffic add about 30 minutes to your trip. It's a toll road and it would avoid downtown Houston. But if traffic is bad due to rodeo weekend, it might be about the same time.

[McCormickJim]

Going Port A. to Lufkin?

Why are you considering routes through Houston? That seems way out of the way.

[EdJunior]

Originally Posted by McCormickJim

Going Port A. to Lufkin?

Why are you considering routes through Houston? That seems way out of the way.

How do you figure that's out of the way? That's about the straightest shot there is. It's the only way to go.

[txredfish]

Several years ago, several times, I traveled fro Rockport to Victoria via 77 to Rockdale,79 to Marques, then take 7 to Crockett to 69 then south on 69 to Lufkin. No where near Houston. Good roads. Houston may be a direct route on the map if you like heavy traffic and construction. But I don't know about construction on the above route. But you should check construction no matter what route you decide.

[Dirt Sifter]

I don't know where you're staying around Port Arthur, but I'd take 96 thru Beaumont. None of my business about the Houston trip, but when going to Texas City to see family I'll add an hour on the side roads around Houston rather than sitting that long on one of their parking lots they call a highway.

[Philandterry]

Originally Posted by Capt. Mike

We will be travelling through Houston, TX on Saturday afternoon, March 21. What is anyone's experience? Is it better to stay on I-69 all the way through on a Saturday, or take I-610 around the downtown area? And if I-610, should I stay to the west or to the east of downtown?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

X2 on all of Houston traffic sucks. My suggestion would be to use your phone app that somehow knows all the traffic problems. We use the phone to detect traffic problems but add our Good Sam's GPS that keeps our rig out of trouble. Good luck