On Friday, the Texas Department of Transportation released its annual list of the 100 most congested roadways in the state, is put together by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
According to the study, which uses TxDOT highway inventory information and speed data from a private-sector source, Interstate 35, between Highway 71 and U.S. 290, is the absolute worst for commercial traffic. In 2014, truck drivers had to endure more than 116,00 hours of delays coming through Central Austin.
I-35 also poses the highest congestion cost, which measures the economic impact of all those traffic jams, costing the trucking industry a whopping $72.1 million a year, TxDOT estimates.
Texas’ most congested highway, for the average motorist, is the Interstate 610 West Loop in Houston between I-10 and I-69, with an amazing 1,184,702 hours of delay per mile within the year.
Although I-10 / US 90 ranks 15 on the overall list, the stretch of road ranks number three when it comes to problems for trucks – for every mile it had 72,181 hours of truck delay and cost over $20 million in truck congestion costs. U.S 59, number two for truck delays, was only a little higher with 72,937 hours per mile and about $32.15 million in truck congestion costs.
The numbers come right before the state’s capital puts a $1 billion transportation bond in the Nov.4 ballot which includes $600 million toward constructing a 9.5-mile urban rail line, along with another $400 million for a package of local road project. State planners are also considering performing an overhaul on the stretch of I-35 running through Central Austin.
Below is a list of the 2014 top 10 most congested roadways in Texas. You can find the entire list of congested Texas roadways sortable by topic here.
| 2014 Rank | 2014 Rank Truck | Roadway | From | To | County | Annual Hrs of Delay per Mile | Annual Hrs of Truck Delay per Mile | TCI | PTI | CSI | Annual Congestion Cost (Millions) | Truck Congestion Cost (Millions) |
| 1 | 4 | IH 610 | IH 10/ US 90 | IH 69/ US 59 | Harris | 1,184,702 | 70,579 | 2.43 | 8.70 | 3.20 | $81.35 | $17.12 |
| 2 | 1 | IH 35 | US 290 N | SH 71 | Travis | 950,795 | 116,251 | 2.54 | 10.00 | 3.33 | $196.14 | $72.12 |
| 3 | 2 | US 59 | IH 610 | SH 288 | Harris | 777,146 | 72,937 | 2.01 | 9.54 | 2.12 | $105.22 | $32.15 |
| 4 | 11 | US 75 | IH 635 | Woodall Rodgers Freeway | Dallas | 719,128 | 47,205 | 1.72 | 7.29 | 2.02 | $145.12 | $33.74 |
| 5 | 5 | IH 35E/ US 77 | SH 183 | IH 30 | Dallas | 708,365 | 70,187 | 1.96 | 7.63 | 2.46 | $79.65 | $25.25 |
| 6 | 8 | US 59 | IH 10/ US 90 | SH 288 | Harris | 666,494 | 55,325 | 2.34 | 10.73 | 3.48 | $50.26 | $13.9 |
| 7 | 7 | IH 635 | IH 35E/ US 77 | US 75 | Dallas | 615,132 | 61,099 | 1.68 | 9.83 | 2.03 | $129.08 | $41.86 |
| 8 | 6 | IH 35W/ US 287 | 28th St/ SH 183 | IH 30 | Tarrant | 606,750 | 65,782 | 2.17 | 11.68 | 2.59 | $67.06 | $22.84 |
| 9 | 14 | IH 45 | IH 610 | IH 10/ US 90 | Harris | 535,229 | 35,570 | 1.63 | 7.50 | 1.95 | $47.04 | $11.08 |
| 10 | 10 | IH 35E/ US 77 | IH 635 | SL 12 N | Dallas | 535,025 | 48,827 | 1.89 | 10.16 | 2.18 | $37.33 | $11.33 |
Source: Texas Department of Transportation