A major crash brought traffic to a crawl on I-45 South near the Loop 610 outbound entrance ramp Sunday afternoon. The collision occurred at 1:09 PM at exit 40B along the southbound feeder, according to Houston Police Department. The incident was classified as non-fatal, but the impact on one of the city's busiest corridors was immediate and significant.
Southbound I-45 experienced substantial delays as emergency crews worked the scene. Drivers heading south toward Pearland and points beyond faced major backups, with traffic snarling for nearly two miles in both directions. Commuters looking to avoid the gridlock had several options: taking the 610 Loop eastbound or westbound depending on destination, routing through local streets in the Midtown or Museum District areas, or shifting to US-59 South as an alternate to I-45. The Sunday afternoon timing meant the crash disrupted travel for families heading home after weekend outings, as well as delivery and service traffic that moves steadily through this corridor on weekends.
The I-45 and Loop 610 interchange ranks as one of the most incident-prone stretches in Harris County. Over the past 90 days, this exact location has logged 40 major incidents, including 6 fatalities. The confluence of high-speed freeway traffic, weaving entrance and exit ramps, and heavy commercial vehicle volume creates a volatile mix. The area near exit 40B has become a persistent trouble spot where merging conflicts and lane-change errors frequently escalate into serious collisions.
The crash affected the southbound direction most severely, with delays persisting well into the afternoon as crews cleared debris and processed the scene. Drivers heading north on I-45 also experienced residual slowdowns from rubbernecking and lane restrictions. Expect lingering congestion through the early evening commute as traffic patterns normalize.
At this location, 52 crashes had been documented in the 30 days before this one.
In the days and weeks following this crash, the location recorded 116 more incidents. The breakdown includes 77 major collisions.
The rate has held at a comparable level after this incident.
A handful of the crashes happened within a single week.
That combined total ranks the location high among county incident sites.
Through May 28, 2026.
EXIT 40B 7006 S IH 45 FWY @ S IH 610 OB ENTR RAMP
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.