Raging Over Roads
These Texas highways are some of the very worst for truckers

Commuters aren’t the only drivers fed up with Texas traffic. A new study from the American Transportation Research Institute ranks 14 Texas road segments among the worst highway bottlenecks for American truckers.
The American Transportation Research Institute study was based on GPS data from more than 600,000 big-rig trucks. In all, the study identifies 100 congested segments of U.S. highways. It lists 14 Texas bottlenecks for truckers. Houston has 10 spots and Dallas-Fort Worth has three. Austin, surprisingly holds just one spot in the ranking: I-35 ranks No. 28.
In August 2016, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) ranked I-35 from U.S. 290 North to State Highway 71 as the state’s second most congested roadway. Today, that portion of I-35 is clogged for six hours a day. If no improvements are made to I-35 by 2040, congestion on that part of the interstate will grow to nine hours a day, TxDOT warns.
Why does Texas have so many trucking chokepoints? “Texas is a key freight generator and a critical link in the nation’s supply chain,” says John Esparza, president of the Texas Trucking Association.
Here’s the full list of truck bottlenecks in Texas and where they appear in the overall ranking:
- No. 8 — I-45 at U.S. 59 in Houston
- No. 11 — I-10 at I-45 in Houston
- No. 12 — I-45 at I-30 in Dallas
- No. 13 — I-10 at U.S. 59 in Houston
- No. 22 — I-610 at U.S. 290 in Houston
- No. 25 — I-45 at I-610 North in Houston
- No. 28 — I-35 in Austin
- No. 33 — I-10 at I-610 West in Houston
- No. 49 — I-35 West at I-30 in Fort Worth
- No. 59 — I-610 at U.S. 59 West in Houston
- No. 60 — U.S. 75 at I-635 in Dallas
- No. 65 — I-45 at Sam Houston Tollway North in Houston
- No. 82 — I-45 at I-610 South in Houston
- No. 88 — I-10 at I-610 East in Houston