A major crash at Exit 35 on I-45 brought traffic to a standstill Sunday morning at 9:50 AM. Harris County responding officers arrived to find significant vehicle damage and blocking lanes, creating immediate backups along one of the region's busiest corridors.
The impact rippled quickly through the exit area. With multiple lanes affected, drivers heading northbound or southbound faced delays as crews worked the scene. Traffic that would normally flow through the interchange slowed to a crawl, and commuters were forced to seek alternate routes or wait out the disruption.
Exit 35 on I-45 has become a consistent trouble spot. According to LocalTrafficAccidents.com data, 43 incidents have occurred here in the past 30 days alone—a rate that underscores just how active this location is. Over the past 90 days, the corridor has logged 172 total incidents, with 112 classified as major. Looking back 12 months, state records show 340 total incidents at this exit, including 227 major crashes and one fatality.
Sunday's timing may seem unusual for a major freeway incident—weekend mornings typically see lighter traffic than weekday commutes. However, LTA data shows that while the single busiest hour at this exit is 3-4 PM (which has recorded 12 crashes), crashes here occur throughout the day and week at varied times rather than concentrating in one narrow window. Fridays have historically seen the highest count with 26 incidents over 90 days, but that doesn't mean other days are safe.
Per TxDOT CRIS public crash records, the leading contributing factor recorded by investigating officers across the entire I-45 Exit 35 corridor is "Failed To Control Speed," cited in 260 crashes since January 2020. Across roughly a quarter-mile of this location, state records document 1,038 total crashes dating back to 2020, with a 11.1% hit-and-run rate.
Weather at the time of Sunday's crash was overcast with temperatures around 90 degrees—not adverse conditions, though the overcast sky may have affected visibility slightly. Harris County as a whole logged 17,409 incidents in the past 30 days, including 25 fatalities, placing the I-45 Exit 35 corridor within a broader pattern of high-volume traffic activity across the region.
Authorities cleared the scene as traffic gradually resumed normal flow. Drivers heading through this exit should remain aware of its incident history and adjust speed and following distance accordingly, particularly during peak afternoon hours when crash frequency peaks.
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.