A crash at SH-288 southbound and SH-35 hit hard at 6:34 AM Friday morning, backing up traffic on one of the region's busier freeway intersections during the start of the morning commute.
The collision shut down lanes on the southbound side, forcing drivers to merge and creating a significant backup through the interchange. Crews were on scene working to clear the wreckage and reopen the roadway, but the timing meant the incident landed squarely in peak commute hours when every lane counts.
If you're heading south on 288, you've got options. Almeda Road runs parallel and offers a surface-street alternative, though it'll carry heavier-than-usual traffic. South Main is another route out of the area. For drivers on the freeway corridor, IH-69 and US-59 run as parallel thoroughfares and can absorb some of the load, depending on your final destination.
Harris County logged 16,080 incidents in the past 30 days, with 23 fatalities during that same period, according to LocalTrafficAccidents.com data. While this incident is being treated as a major crash, real-time data and emergency response updates will determine final clearance time.
Check current conditions before you head out — the backup should begin to ease once the scene is clear, but expect delays through the early morning hours.
Update (8:00 AM CT): The major crash at SH-288 Southbound at SH-35, first reported at 6:34 AM, has cleared after approximately 1 hour and 26 minutes. All lanes have reopened and normal traffic flow has resumed in the area.
SH-288 Southbound at SH-35
Harris County, Texas
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.