A multi-vehicle crash left one car overturned on Interstate 45 northbound near Exit 35 this morning, shutting down the highway shortly before noon on Monday, May 25. The incident unfolded at 11:22 AM and forced crews to clear the roadway and manage heavy vehicle recovery.
Harris County emergency responders worked to clear the debris and restore traffic flow. The exact number of vehicles involved and the extent of injuries remain under investigation, but the crash was severe enough to warrant full incident response protocols and temporary closure of northbound lanes.
This crash lands on a corridor that's been running hot. According to LocalTrafficAccidents.com data, Interstate 45 North at Exit 35 has logged 67 incidents over the past 30 days — 51 of them classified as major. Over a 90-day window, the location has recorded 183 total incidents, including 131 major crashes and one fatality. The 12-month toll stands at 217 incidents.
What's worth noting: while this location tends to see the most congestion on Tuesdays and peaks during the 4 PM to 5 PM hour, today's 11:22 AM crash occurred during the offpeak period. That's actually the dominant time pattern here — the majority of incidents at this spot happen outside traditional rush windows, suggesting the corridor's problem extends beyond the typical commute squeeze.
Traffic was backing up significantly while crews worked the scene. Recovery time for a multi-vehicle incident with an overturned vehicle typically runs one to two hours, depending on the complexity of vehicle removal and lane repairs. Drivers heading north on I-45 should expect delays or consider alternate routes until the roadway is fully cleared.
Weather conditions at the time — broken clouds and 84 degrees — were clear, so visibility wasn't a complicating factor in this particular incident.
Updates on clearance time and lane reopening should come within the next hour as crews complete their work. Check LTA for live incident updates if you're traveling this corridor.
Sources: TxDOT Crash Records Information System and Local Traffic Accidents database. Counts through October 1, 2026.
66 crashes had already been logged at this location in the 30 days before this incident.
203 more crashes have been recorded at this location in the time since. Major-severity incidents accounted for 117 of the total. 1 of those that followed this incident was fatal.
Crashes have slowed at this location since this crash.
Some of those crashes occurred within days of each other.
Combined, those numbers put the location among the most active in the county.
Data current as of October 09, 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.