Houston, we have a problem

What problem? Well, you cain't get there from here is what the problem is. I delivered on the nw side of houston this mornin. No load leaving yet, so I needed a place to park. The closest truckstop of any size is on the east side of town. No problem says I, I'll just bop on over and get me some lunch. Except, well you cain't get there from here. See I headed east since the 610 loop was east, took a 4 lane road. Got almost to 610 when the road was closed for an accident. No problem, I just turned right since I10 was south and away I go. Now I'm headed SE on a 4 lane, perfect since 610 is east and 10 is south I'll eventually hit one or the other. Except that when I get to 610 the ramps are closed due to construction. I can see the cars up there, but you cain't get there. But I'm still headed se, so I'll hit 10 eventually. Except you cain't get there from here. The road kinda just ends, giving me 2 options, east or west. Ok, 610 is west and 10 is south, so I chose west. A mile later there it is, 610 north and south, and something about toll 10 west. I don't want to go west and don't have a way to pay the toll anyway. Hhhhmmm, well, I haven't crossed 10 yet so 610s it is. Except the ramp to 10 east is closed for construction. The "you gotta be kidding" sigh was epic at that point. Oh well, 610 is a loop and even tho the south loop is the long way, I don't have anything else to do so off I go. Other that traffic backups at 59, 69, and 45, at 1:30 on a wed. afternoon, the trip was pretty uneventful, well except that the whole "you cain't get there from here" thing wasn't done with me. I need exit 789 off 10, but of course, it's closed for construction. So it's onward to exit 790, which allows me to use one of those really neat texas u-turns, I always like when I can use one of those. And since it's only a mile, I'll just stay on the access road, well except you cain't get there from here. See, there is a railroad accross the access road, several tracks worth. You can see the road across the tracks, you just cain't get there from here. So it's back under the freeway, back east to the exit, back around the texas u-turn, then on the freeway for a mile to my exit. I did get to the truckstop that time. Only took 70 minutes to go what should have been less than 30 miles. Lol guess it's a good thing I had nowhere else to be.

You have my sympathy. Was down in Houston last summer and the GPS just kept me going around in circles in those Texas U-turns. Sure hard to get to the Marriot-airport from I-10 from the east.

don't try to drive in Austin without lots of Tums and CD's........oh yeah, and pee before you try to get anywhere around here.

The problems of traveling, especially when you are a trucker.

KEH

I used to deliver in Austin every week on Monday, and that was before the bypass. On some Sundays traffic was backed up from Ft.Worth all the way to Austin.

Sounds worse than the disappearing roads in northern Minn. wife's cousin hauls power poles with Otto transfer. Had to deliver a load to a electric co. up north--started out on a good road, but got more and more narrow. Got to a corner he could not make--called the electric co. and they said yes, we thought that would be a problem. They came with a front end loader and picked up on the poles and lifted the trailer wheels over as he went ahead around the corner. Have a safe trip, Jon.

"Lol guess it's a good thing I had nowhere else to be."
Anywhere to be besides Houston is a good place to be!

Got to be careful around Houston. Had a guy tell me that they had a contract to paint stripes on the bypass around the city. The company had an attenuator truck following the striper. At 6:30 in the morning, a drunk plowed into the back of the attenuator truck at 80 mph - and the drunk survived the crash. The driver of the attenuator truck was hurt worse than the drunk!

I sold my equipment 15 years ago, but up until then I don't remember finding a good truck stop around Houston. Hopefully times and places have changed and you had a good lunch. Actually I used to like rambling around Texas, even lived in Austin in the late seventies, but Houston was not my favorite place to camp.

I live 120 miles north of Houston. That's as close to Houston as I want to get.

At least you were going!
In Austin you would have been sitting still for 70 minutes. Word got out in the late 70's that Austin was a nice place to live so literally everyone moved there.

Houston does have road options. Last time I had to drive there was to pick up a lathe. Had to go dang near to Texas City.

Went to east side of Houston last Saturday. Our terminal is on the east side of town just off 610 by the Pilot and Loves.
Made it in and out of town OK but got caught in a nightmare of a traffic jam in Orange. It was so bad I got off by the Petro and run 90 all the way to the last exit in Texas before I got back on 10. They are working on 10 east right there or at least they was last Saturday.

I was in Houston once. Early morning, not much traffic, 3 of 6 lanes in the middle blocked for picking up a wreck. Get almost there and they start rolling, and one of the cops thinks his flashing lights void the laws of physics, not sure how I missed him when he pulled into a 4th lane to block it, from a stop.

Texas "U" turn, is that like a Michigan "U" turn?

Jon, that's why I dodn't drive truck for a living.
My fuse isn't that long.

I live in Michigan and still can't figure those things out. Do not get to a big city very often.

Picture an interstate exit/frontage road...at the bottom, along with the typical stop or lights, is a U-turn lane going back to the other side of the interstate. You don"t go thru the stop/lights. You do have to watch for other traffic turning onto your new road.

We went thru Houston/Dallas a couple weeks ago, headed back now and did Dallas today. What an ungodly mess! Traffic, construction, rough roads, poor signage, uneven lane surfaces with no warning. Galveston had lousy rough roads...blew a tire and shop owner said I guess you found what our streets are like. And WHY the deep dips at intersections and driveways? We don"t all drive hopped up monster trucks. Had a nice vacation but won"t miss the above.

No, it's actually pretty smart, it's just confusing to out of owners. In tx the freeways have parallel access roads on both sides in most places. When you exit the freeway you get off onto that access road. When you get to the cross street you can make a right or left like everywhere, but they add an extra inner lane on the far left. This lane never gets to the cross street, but circles around under the freeway directly to the access road on the other side. This eliminates the need to mix with cross traffic if what you want is along the access road on the other side. What is confusing is if your used to making those left's at the cross street from the far left lane as is done everywhere else, you end up making a u-turn and going the other way along the other side of the freeway not on the cross street.

Texas does have some strange roads compared to the other areas.

Texas is the only state that I can ever remember seeing a cross street with a stop sign on the interstate.

Houston has the worst drivers in Texas,, And Dallas is a close second. Had to drive San Antonio to Dallas every week for 5 years for my job with At&t. Austin south bound was always upchecked as well. The toll bypass was worth 40 minutes off my trip going south. Not so much going north.

Glad you had fun in Houston. Your experience sounds like business as usual; One big parking lot as far as the eye can see twice a day. That is why I leave early to get to work and leave early from work to avoid the traffic as much as possible. If you like to see pretty colors pull up the Houston Transtar traffic map and watch it as it goes from green to bright red all over town.

bjb in SW Houston Tx from Ne

Speaking of "closed for construction", I have many times been amazed at how they schedule construction in many metro areas. Most people know of an alternate route or two to get through or around metro areas, but the people that schedule construction know them all too. You can encounter a big delay due to construction, and know that it will last weeks or months, so next day you take an alternate route, only to find that they have you stymied by scheduling a major project on the alternate as well.