A major crash brought eastbound traffic on IH-610 to a standstill Friday morning at 10:27 AM near the Mykawa entrance ramp on Houston's southeast side. The collision, reported by Houston Police, blocked multiple lanes during the tail end of rush hour and created significant backups across one of the city's busiest inner-loop corridors.
Commuters heading toward the Medical Center, Astrodome area, or further east on the loop faced substantial delays. The timing couldn't have been worse—just as mid-morning traffic was settling, the crash sent rubber-neckers and backed-up vehicles crawling through the bottleneck. Drivers looking to bypass the gridlock had limited options; taking surface streets like OST or heading north to pick up IH-45 were the main alternatives, though those routes quickly absorbed overflow traffic from the disabled loop.
The stretch of IH-610 East near Mykawa has proven to be a persistent trouble spot. Over the past 30 days alone, the area has logged 42 total incidents, with 29 classified as major—a pattern that reflects the corridor's congestion and the aggressive merging that happens at the Mykawa entrance ramp. The combination of heavy commuter volume, tight spacing between entry and exit points, and drivers unfamiliar with the area creates a recipe for collisions in this section.
The eastbound direction bore the brunt of the impact, with traffic backed up for several miles during the initial response. While Houston PD worked to clear the scene, conditions remained sluggish well into late morning as recovery crews dealt with the disabled vehicles. Drivers heading that way should have expected lengthy delays and considered alternate routes entirely until the all-clear was given.
IH610IB-MLK 5283 S IH 610 FWY E @ MYKAWA ENTR RAMP
Harris County, Texas