A major traffic crash brought congestion to the Old Spanish Trail corridor early Sunday morning when two vehicles collided at the intersection of Old Spanish Trail and Ardmore Street at 12:24 AM on March 22, 2026. Harris County emergency responders worked the scene as TranStar reported significant delays affecting the area during the pre-dawn hours.
The incident struck during a typically lighter traffic period, but the severity of the crash caused notable backups on Old Spanish Trail in both directions. Drivers heading toward the Medical Center area should consider using nearby alternate routes like Kirby Drive or Fondren Drive to bypass the affected intersection. Those traveling along Ardmore Street faced delays as well, with South Main Street and Bellfort Avenue offering viable detours around the congestion.
Old Spanish Trail has long served as a critical east-west corridor through south Houston, connecting the Texas Medical Center to Bellaire and points east. The intersection with Ardmore Street sits near several residential neighborhoods and commercial areas that depend on this stretch for daily traffic flow. While not typically ranked among the area's worst accident hotspots, this particular intersection has seen its share of incidents due to traffic volume and sight line challenges.
The crash involved multiple vehicles and emergency crews remained on scene managing the situation as dawn broke over Harris County. Expect residual delays to linger on Old Spanish Trail as debris is cleared and normal traffic patterns resume. Drivers should remain alert as cleanup continues and traffic control measures remain in effect in the area.
Sources: TxDOT Crash Records Information System and Local Traffic Accidents database. Counts through October 1, 2026.
This wasn't the first crash at the location — 49 had been recorded in the previous 30 days.
281 more crashes at this location followed this incident. 164 of the more recent crashes were major.
The location's crash rate has eased in the months since.
A cluster of those crashes happened within roughly two weeks.
That combined total ranks the location high among county incident sites.
Updated through October 02, 2026.
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.