A serious crash brought southbound traffic to a crawl on IH-45 near the Rayford Road and Sawdust Road intersection Thursday afternoon at 2:29 PM. The incident tied up one of the most critical north-south corridors in the Greater Houston area during peak commute hours, affecting thousands of drivers heading out of Montgomery County toward Harris County and beyond.
The timing couldn't have been worse for afternoon commuters. The crash occurred just as office workers and school traffic were ramping up on the interstate. Drivers looking to bypass the backup have several options: taking TX-105 eastbound toward Conroe before connecting back to IH-45 further south, or diverting to FM-1488 through The Woodlands area. Those heading to the southwest side of Houston might consider taking TX-242 toward Spring and then connecting to local roads, though that route adds significant time. The northbound lanes remained unaffected, but the southbound backup backed up traffic well into northern Harris County and even impacted on-ramp access points near Sawdust Road.
This stretch of IH-45 near Rayford Road sits in a transitional zone between Montgomery County's suburban growth and the northern suburbs of Houston proper. The area has seen explosive development over the past decade, with major employers, shopping centers, and residential communities drawing constant traffic flow. Rayford Road itself serves as a key connector between The Woodlands and points east, making this interchange a natural chokepoint during busy periods. Construction and congestion incidents here routinely cascade southward toward the IAH Airport corridor and the North Houston area.
The southbound direction absorbed the full impact of the crash. TranStar reported the incident was a major collision, though specific details on vehicle count and clearance status were not immediately available. Drivers traveling south on IH-45 during the mid-to-late afternoon should expect significant delays extending well past the immediate incident location. Recovery time on this particular stretch typically stretches 45 minutes to over an hour once major incidents are cleared, given how quickly backups build on this heavily-used stretch.
Going back 90 days, the location had been quiet.
39 additional crashes have been logged at the location in the weeks since. 39 of those crashes reached major severity.
A short window saw several crashes at the location.
Combined, those incidents make this one of the highest-volume crash locations in the area.
Data through May 26, 2026.
IH-45 Southbound at Rayford Rd/Sawdust Rd in Montgomery County
Harris County, Texas
This report was produced by LTA's editor-designed production system under the executive editorial direction of Dennis R. Mundy, Executive Editor. The system combines our proprietary data pipeline with AI-assisted drafting to deliver verified incident coverage to LTA's editorial standards.