A major vehicle accident closed US-290 westbound near Huffmeister at 1:40 AM on Monday, May 11, 2026. The incident occurred during moderate rain, with visibility and road conditions affected by precipitation.
The crash halted westbound traffic on the freeway during the off-peak early morning hours. Motorists traveling the US-290 corridor in northwest Harris County encountered significant delays as emergency responders worked the scene.
According to LTA data, US-290 in the Huffmeister area has recorded 31 incidents over the past 30 days, with 20 classified as major. Over a 90-day period, the corridor has experienced 99 total incidents, 63 of them major. The 12-month incident count at this location stands at 111, with 71 major crashes.
The pattern at this location diverges from typical rush hour concentration. LTA analysis shows that only 21 percent of crashes here occur during peak commute hours. Instead, the dominant incident time pattern is off-peak, with Wednesday recording the highest incident frequency at 20 incidents over 90 days. The peak crash hour remains 2 PM to 3 PM, with nine incidents recorded during that window over the same three-month span.
Weather conditions at the time of the incident are relevant to crash risk. TxDOT reports that wet conditions contributed to over 14,000 Texas crashes in the most recent annual reporting period. The moderate rain present at 1:40 AM Monday represents a documented factor in collision risk on area roadways.
Alternate routes for drivers traveling the US-290 corridor include FM 1960 or Cypress-Rosehill Road for northwest segments and Hempstead Road for inner segments.
Harris County recorded 19,085 traffic incidents over the past 30 days, with 31 fatalities. US-290 in Huffmeister represents a concentrated incident location within that broader county context.
The incident classification as major indicates substantial roadway disruption and likely injury involvement, though specific injury counts and final clearance time were not immediately available.
**Update (9:45 AM CT):** The major crash at US-290 IN HUFFMEISTER, first reported at 1:40 AM, has cleared after more than 8 hours. All lanes have reopened and normal traffic flow has resumed in the area.
Before this incident, the location logged 29 crashes over the prior 30 days.
In the 103 days since this incident, the location has seen 148 more crashes. 108 of those incidents were major.
Crash frequency has been roughly consistent before and after this incident.
Several of those incidents clustered within a short window.
The combined count puts this stretch in the top tier for crashes in the area.
Through August 21, 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.