Denton County claims four of the 100 busiest roadways in Texas. For example, I-35E from Business 121 to I-635 is the county’s busiest road at No. 36—up six spots from its previous ranking—with more than 226,000 hours of delays and more than $43.6 million lost due to congestion.
The annual report showed an increase in congested highways and streets in 2021. The report started in 2009 and rates the 100 busiest segments of roadways in the state with a study looking at congestion and the delay it costs in terms of time spent stuck in gridlock.
There were 1,860 roadways in 23 urban areas that were reviewed during the study, which was funded by the Texas Department of Transportation. The study looked at how much longer drivers were on the road in traffic jams compared to noncongested conditions.
Traffic delays have a large financial impact. According to research, a total of $3.8 billion was lost between wasted fuel and lost time in 2021. Truck congestion costs were $620 million.
The 2021 numbers showed an increase, but the report stated the COVID-19 effects still had conditions below the prepandemic congestion. The West Loop in Houston was the most gridlocked stretch in 2021 for the second year in a row, and eight of the top 10 remained unchanged from the previous two years. Researchers emphasized traffic will eventually return to familiar intensity as the state’s population grows and its economy recovers, according to a press release.
“Traffic congestion isn’t just a big-city problem, and that problem is almost sure to get worse as our population surges by almost 20 million in the next 25 years,” said David Schrank, the TTI’s lead researcher on the annual study. “With that kind of growth, Texas needs to use every possible means to keep people and goods moving. We need to add capacity, operate the system efficiently and give people options for how to travel.”
The Dallas-Fort Worth area accounted for 37 of the top 100 busiest roadways, which is up from 34 in 2021.
See the 100 busiest roadways in Texas here.
