A major crash brought eastbound traffic to a crawl on the Westpark Tollway at Cook Road on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 8:06 AM, according to TranStar traffic data. The collision occurred during peak morning commute hours, affecting thousands of drivers heading toward downtown Houston and the Texas Medical Center.
Commuters faced significant delays stretching back several miles as the incident unfolded. With the Westpark Tollway serving as a critical east-west corridor for drivers from the western suburbs, backup extended well into the morning rush period. Drivers heading toward downtown should consider using parallel routes like Bellaire Boulevard or Richmond Avenue to bypass the congestion. Those coming from the Katy area could divert north to I-10 or south to Briarpark Drive, though those alternatives would also experience heavier-than-normal volume. The spillover effect likely impacted the entire tollway corridor and connecting feeder roads throughout the Westchester and Uptown areas.
This stretch of the Westpark Tollway at Cook has long been a pressure point during morning commutes. The intersection sits near several major commercial districts and feeds directly into high-traffic zones serving the Medical Center and downtown core. The area typically handles heavy vehicle traffic from commuters traveling from the southwest Houston suburbs, making any significant incident particularly disruptive during peak hours.
The eastbound direction absorbed the full impact of the crash, though exact lane closure information wasn't immediately available. Drivers in the area encountered substantial delays and should have expected extended travel times throughout the morning commute window. With TranStar monitoring conditions, updates were expected as crews worked to clear the roadway and restore normal traffic flow to one of the region's busiest tollway segments.
Sources: TxDOT Crash Records Information System and Local Traffic Accidents database. Counts through October 1, 2026.
3 crashes had already been logged here in the month before this incident.
The location has logged 96 more incidents since this crash. 55 of those were classified as major.
Crashes have accelerated at this location in the months since.
Multiple crashes occurred at this location within a tight time window.
Combined, those numbers put the location among the most active in the county.
Data through September 28, 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.