Raging Over Roads
This Fort Worth highway is one of the very worst for truckers
Commuters aren’t the only drivers fed up with I-35W. A new study from the American Transportation Research Institute ranks I-35 West at I-30 in Fort Worth as the 49th worst highway bottleneck 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; Fort Worth holds just one spot in the ranking, while Houston has 10 spots, Dallas has two, and Austin just one.
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.
In August 2016, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) ranked I-35 West/U.S. 287 from State Highway 183 to I-30 as the state’s 23rd most congested roadway. Its Texas Congestion Index rating indicates that during rush hour, a trip through that stretch of road can take 1.7 times as long as when traffic is flowing freely.
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
