A significant crash brought traffic to a crawl on the West Sam Houston Tollway southbound near Hammerly Boulevard at 6:28 p.m. Sunday, February 15, 2026, according to TranStar traffic data. The incident created major backups during peak evening commute hours, affecting drivers heading toward the Westchase and Energy Corridor areas.
Commuters faced substantial delays across multiple routes as traffic from the tollway began spilling onto nearby surface streets. Drivers heading south on the Sam Houston should consider taking Interstate 10 westbound toward Katy or rerouting via Westheimer Road as an alternative. The Beltway 8 system offers another option for those trying to bypass the affected stretch, though early evening congestion on those corridors was expected to worsen as diverted traffic accumulated. Local roads like Gessner Drive and Hillcroft Avenue would likely see increased volume as drivers sought workarounds.
This stretch of the West Sam Houston Tollway regularly handles heavy traffic, particularly during weekend evenings when families return from dining and entertainment venues in the Uptown and Midtown areas. The Hammerly intersection serves as a critical connection point between the tollway and the surrounding commercial districts, making incidents here particularly disruptive to regional traffic flow. The proximity to major shopping centers and restaurants in the area means this corridor typically carries a mix of commuters and leisure travelers throughout the week.
The southbound lanes bore the brunt of the impact from the collision. As of the initial TranStar report, authorities were working to clear the scene, though specific timeline estimates for full clearance were unavailable. Drivers navigating this area should anticipate extended delays and congestion extending well into the evening hours as recovery efforts continued.
Sources: TxDOT Crash Records Information System and Local Traffic Accidents database. Counts through October 1, 2026.
13 incidents had occurred at this location in the 30 days prior.
210 new incidents have been logged at this location after this crash. Major crashes made up 139 of the subsequent incidents.
The location's incident pace has stayed close to its prior rate.
Some of those crashes occurred within days of each other.
That total ranks this location among the highest-incident corridors in the county.
Data through October 04, 2026.
West Sam Houston Tollway Southbound at Hammerly Blvd
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.