A major crash brought eastbound traffic to a crawl on IH-610's North Loop at McCarty Street near US-90 Alternate at 3:29 PM Thursday, February 26, 2026, according to TranStar. The incident occurred during peak afternoon commute hours when thousands of drivers typically funnel through this critical interchange heading toward Pasadena, Baytown, and points east.
The timing couldn't have been worse. The 610 North Loop eastbound carries some of the heaviest traffic volumes in Harris County during afternoon rush, and a major crash at this interchange can paralyze the entire corridor within minutes. Drivers heading toward Channelview or the refineries along the Ship Channel faced significant delays extending well into the evening commute. Alternate routes became essential—drivers looking to bypass the congestion could take surface streets north through the Greens area before reconnecting to eastbound US-90, or alternatively head south toward downtown and access US-90 via the East End. Local roads like Bellfort and Reed would likely see heavy diversion traffic as drivers sought ways around the backup.
The McCarty Street interchange sits at one of the most critical junctures on the North Loop. Located near the Northeast Houston industrial corridor, this stretch handles a constant stream of commercial vehicles, pipeline traffic, and commuters. The 610 loop itself remains one of Houston's busiest highways, and incidents at major cross-streets like McCarty create immediate ripple effects across the entire eastern side of the beltway. Nearby landmarks including the Ship Channel crossing and the Greens neighborhood mean this area rarely experiences light traffic, making any obstruction particularly disruptive.
The crash remained in the eastbound lanes at the time of the incident. Cleanup and recovery operations were underway, though the exact duration of delays remained unclear. Commuters heading that direction should anticipate backup extending several miles westbound on the North Loop as crews worked to clear the scene and reopen lanes.
HEADLINE: Major Crash Snarls IH-610 North Loop Eastbound at McCarty Street
Before this incident, the location logged 18 crashes over the prior 30 days.
109 crashes have happened at this location after this incident. 73 of those were classified as major.
Crashes have come more frequently at this location since this incident.
A stretch of consecutive days brought several crashes to this location.
The combined count puts this stretch in the top tier for crashes in the area.
Reflecting incident data through May 29, 2026.
IH-610 North Loop Eastbound at Mc Carty St/US-90 Alternate
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.