A crash shut down I-45 Gulf northbound at Scott Street around 1:53 AM Thursday, July 16, creating a significant backup in the pre-dawn hours.
The northbound lanes are blocked as crews work to clear the wreckage. If you're heading north on 45 right now, you'll want to find another route — Hardy Toll Road, SH-249 to the northwest, or local streets via Airline Drive are your best bets to avoid the delay.
This isn't an isolated incident at this stretch. According to LocalTrafficAccidents.com data, I-45 northbound at Scott Street has seen 51 crashes in the past 30 days alone — 37 of them major incidents like this one. Over the past three months, the corridor has logged 168 total incidents, with 88 rated major severity. The pattern stretches back a full year: 272 incidents across 12 months, 131 of them major.
Per TxDOT CRIS public crash records, this corridor has recorded 1,097 crashes since January 2020, including six fatalities. The state's investigating officers most frequently cite "Failed To Control Speed" as a contributing factor at this location, accounting for 445 crashes in that span.
One notable piece of corridor timing: most crashes here don't happen during typical rush hours. The single busiest hour is 9 to 10 PM — not morning or evening peak commute. That makes overnight incidents like this one less common than the peak evening window, but they do occur.
Weather was clear at the time of the crash — overcast skies, 78 degrees — so conditions weren't a factor here.
Expect delays on I-45 northbound through the early morning. Check back here for clearance updates as crews progress.
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.