A major crash at the intersection of Preston Street and Washington Avenue brought traffic to a crawl across the area Monday afternoon at 1:33 PM on February 09, 2026. The collision occurred during the peak of the workday, creating immediate congestion that rippled through surrounding neighborhoods in Harris County.
Drivers heading through the corridor faced significant delays as the crash tied up this critical intersection. Those traveling north and south on Preston should divert to nearby streets like Fannin or Graustark, which typically handle overflow traffic during incidents on the main thoroughfare. Eastbound and westbound drivers on Washington have better options routing through Allen Parkway or navigating down to the feeder roads along Buffalo Bayou. Given the 1:33 PM timing, commute times through the affected area stretched well beyond normal afternoon patterns, with backups extending several blocks in multiple directions.
This section of Preston and Washington sits in a transitional area between downtown Houston and the midtown corridor, serving as a regular route for commercial and commuter traffic. The intersection handles steady flow throughout the day, connecting the medical center district to downtown via Washington while Preston feeds north-south traffic patterns. It's not typically considered a trouble spot for crashes, though the intersection's complexity with multiple lanes and turning movements makes it susceptible to incidents during heavy traffic periods.
The crash remained active at the location, with emergency personnel managing the scene. Drivers should expect continued congestion through the early evening rush as traffic clears. Expect slower speeds on Washington Avenue heading toward downtown and any side streets feeding into the main intersection as personnel work to fully clear the roadway. The incident will likely impact the 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. commute window, when this corridor normally sees its heaviest traffic loads.
Sources: TxDOT Crash Records Information System and Local Traffic Accidents database. Counts through October 1, 2026.
The four weeks before this crash brought 33 other incidents to this location.
The location has logged 618 more incidents since this crash. 296 of those crashes reached major severity. A fatal crash was among those that followed.
Incidents have arrived less frequently at this location since.
A run of crashes occurred over a span of days.
Combined, those incidents make this one of the highest-volume crash locations in the area.
Counts run through October 08, 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.