Houston tips?

610/290 is always heavy traffic, especially at that time of day.

You already done this? If so, let us know what you did and how it went.
Just me, I would avoid 610 and 290 on a week day. I would rather pay the tolls on Beltway 8.
The 124 to Winnie, then 10 would be better. I would take 63 north to Liberty to avoid Mt. Belvieu traffic and Dayton red lights though. Then north on 146.

ken56 wrote:
Thanks for the advice. It seems I have made the decision to go back to I-10 on 87. I am on the Bolivar Penn. and will go 124- I-10 to 610 north side, to 290 to 6. My trailer is 37 ft. long and I will likely wait until 9:30 to leave here so that puts me into Houston at 10:30 - 11:00. Should be OK I am thinking. It is what it is. Patience is in order.

This will probably work. The east and northeast freeways around Houston carry are the least heavy with traffic, though that is only in comparison to other freeways in Houston, not other cities.

Again, watch the lane changes on 610 as you go around to stay on your route.

There is construction around the 610/290 interchange, I believe. The wild card is always repair lane closures or fender benders unanticipated on your route. I heard a traffic report just today that spoke of a 30 minute backup on the Katy Freeway due to a construction related lane closure. Keep in mind the Katy is one of the widest, most heavily travelled freeways in the nation and it is not on your route, but unexpected delays are simply not out of the question.

Thanks for the advice. It seems I have made the decision to go back to I-10 on 87. I am on the Bolivar Penn. and will go 124- I-10 to 610 north side, to 290 to 6. My trailer is 37 ft. long and I will likely wait until 9:30 to leave here so that puts me into Houston at 10:30 - 11:00. Should be OK I am thinking. It is what it is. Patience is in order.

I think Texan gave you very good advice in his original response. On the other hand if I were going through Houston I would go straight through rather than using I-610.

ken56 wrote:
Thanks Texan, I have been looking at the map and considered going back up the 124 and over from there at 10. It looks to be a 7 hour day so I don't want to add too much in the way of miles and time. If I head up 45 and hit the 610 to 290 and the 6 at about 9-10am would that miss the majority of rush hour? I hope so.

The short answer is that you will miss the heaviest rush hour traffic, but you will still go through traffic much heavier than you are probably used to. That and you will experience a lot of drivers who deal with it all the time, seem to be in a big hurry and drive aggressively due to that (weaving around you and cutting in front, etc.).

Traffic is always kind of heavy on those roads, but at that hour it won't probably be bumper to bumper, unless there is a traffic incident, which occur all to frequently.

Pay attention to road signs describing lane changes and the correct lanes to use and get into them well before the turns. Sometimes you have to change lanes just to stay on the same highway number. Use a GPS if you have one.

Thanks Texan, I have been looking at the map and considered going back up the 124 and over from there at 10. It looks to be a 7 hour day so I don't want to add too much in the way of miles and time. If I head up 45 and hit the 610 to 290 and the 6 at about 9-10am would that miss the majority of rush hour? I hope so.

ken56 wrote:
Leaving the Bolivar, crossing on the ferry then up to Stephensville

I assume you mean Stephenville, Texas.

I wouldn't take the Bolivar Ferry unless you want to visit Galveston. I am assuming you only want to traverse Houston north and then west to get to Stephenville, not visit anything in Houston proper. To bypass the big city heavy traffic, take TX124 north from the Bolivar Peninsula to Winnie, I-10 west to Mount Belvieu, TX146 north through Liberty and Dayton, on north to Livingston and catch US190 west. Catch I45 north at Huntsville, take TX164/TX6 at Buffalo to and through Waco. Take US281 on into Stephenville at Hico. Check this all out on a map.

The state highways of Texas are almost always good roadways. I have driven on most of these highways and they are fine.

That is a roundabout way with several turns, but it avoids the stress of big city traffic and may not be any more time consuming if you avoid the traffic situations that occur all too often in the big cities of Houston & Austin.

Good luck and safe travels.

We would head a litle north, then west and go south between Houston and Dallas/Ft Worth. We go miles out of the way to avoid large cities and the traffic situations like Houston will have. It's a lot less stressful too.

bypass by way of Omaha ;) ;)
Traffic can be horrific at times
Spent a week there when I was working, looking for homicide suspect. I was likely in places you won't be in however