A major crash closed southbound lanes on IH-45 North at SH 249/Mount Houston Road at 3:46 AM on Sunday, May 10, 2026.
The incident occurred during off-peak hours on a corridor that has logged 10 major crashes in the past 30 days, according to LocalTrafficAccidents.com data. The location has recorded 31 major incidents over the past 12 months, establishing it as a sustained crash concentration point in Harris County.
Southbound traffic was diverted during the incident. The Hardy Toll Road, SH-249 northwestbound, and local routes via Airline Drive provided alternate passage around the closure.
The timing of this crash aligns with a documented pattern at this location. While 43 percent of crashes at this intersection occur during rush hours, the corridor experiences significant incident activity during off-peak periods as well. LTA data shows Sundays represent the highest-incident day at this location over the past 90 days, with six recorded incidents. The 9 AM to 10 AM hour has been the peak crash window during daytime operations.
Harris County recorded 19,287 total traffic incidents in the past 30 days, with 33 of those fatal. LTA tracks 72,270 incidents across the 13-county Houston-Galveston region with updates every two minutes.
Weather conditions at the time of the crash were broken clouds with temperatures around 74°F—conditions that did not present visibility or traction complications typical of adverse-weather crash scenarios.
The southbound IH-45 corridor at Mount Houston Road has emerged as a location where crash frequency exceeds typical freeway patterns. The 10 major incidents recorded in 30 days place the location in the upper range of corridor-specific incident concentrations. All 10 crashes in the 30-day window were classified as major severity, indicating substantial vehicular involvement or lane blockage.
The nature of the crash—whether single-vehicle, multi-vehicle, or involving commercial traffic—was not specified in available incident data. Lane reopening time and final injury counts were not reported.
Motorists traveling southbound on IH-45 North in the Mount Houston area should monitor traffic conditions and plan alternate routes as incident recovery continued.
Update (5:50 AM CT): As of 5:50 AM CT, the scene remains active and lanes may still be affected. Motorists are advised to seek alternate routes.
Update (7:50 AM CT): More than 4 hours after the initial report, the scene remains active. Motorists should continue to seek alternate routes.
Update (8:50 AM CT): The major crash at IH-45 North Southbound at SH 249/ Mount Houston Rd, first reported at 3:46 AM, has cleared after approximately 5 hours and 4 minutes. All lanes have reopened and normal traffic flow has resumed in the area.
Sources: TxDOT Crash Records Information System and Local Traffic Accidents database. Counts through October 1, 2026.
Before this crash, the location had recorded 9 other incidents in 30 days.
The location continued to accumulate incidents — 18 more after this crash. Major-severity incidents accounted for 15 of the total.
Multiple crashes piled up over consecutive days.
Combined, those numbers put the location among the most active in the county.
Updated through July 07, 2026.
IH-45 North Southbound at SH 249/ Mount Houston Rd
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.