A major crash shut down eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 at Patterson Street early Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 1:47 AM, according to Harris County incident data.
The incident occurred during off-peak hours on the Katy Freeway, a corridor showing an extreme concentration of crashes. According to LocalTrafficAccidents.com data, IH-10 Katy Eastbound at Patterson Street recorded 53 total incidents in the past 30 days, with 29 classified as major. Over the past 90 days, the location has reported 168 incidents, including 81 major crashes and 2 fatalities.
Drivers in the eastbound direction were directed to alternate routes. The I-610 loop, Westpark Tollway to the west, and Washington Avenue or Memorial Drive for inner-loop segments remained available as bypass options during the closure.
Weather conditions at the time of the crash were favorable—few clouds and 69 degrees Fahrenheit—indicating clear visibility and dry road surfaces.
The crash adds to Harris County's traffic burden. The county reported 19,019 total incidents in the past 30 days, including 30 fatal crashes, according to LTA's real-time incident database.
While this particular crash occurred outside traditional rush hours, the Katy Freeway eastbound corridor at Patterson Street shows distinct temporal patterns. Over the past 90 days, the location's peak crash hour has been 3 PM to 4 PM, with 13 incidents during that window. Saturdays emerge as the highest-incident day at the location, recording 27 crashes over the same period. Only 21 percent of crashes at this location occur during standard rush hour windows, meaning the majority of incidents happen during off-peak periods.
The incident classification of major indicates substantial traffic impact and likely extended lane closures during the investigation and recovery phases.
No additional incident details were available at time of publication.
**Update (4:20 AM CT):** The major crash at IH-10 Katy Eastbound at Patterson St, first reported at 1:47 AM, has cleared after approximately 2 hours and 33 minutes. All lanes have reopened and normal traffic flow has resumed in the area.
The four weeks before this crash brought 52 other incidents to this location.
The location has logged 26 more incidents since this crash. 11 have been logged as major collisions.
The pace of crashes at this location has slowed since.
Several of the incidents hit within days of one another.
The aggregate count puts this location in the most active tier of county crash sites.
Counts run through May 27, 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.