In 2019, Broadway Street from Hwy. 288 to Hwy. 35 was the 168th most congested road in the state. In 2018, the road ranked 142.
However, according to preliminary data for 2020, the road is the 103rd most congested road in the state. The TTI released the data as a part of its annual ranking of the most congested roadways statewide.
While Broadway Street from Hwy. 288 to Hwy. 35 is the 103rd most congested road in the state, it is more congested than any other road in Pearland, according to the data.
According to 2019 data from the city of Pearland, nearly 55,000 cars travel on Broadway Street daily. The road was also the highest-ranked regional priority for the Houston-Galveston Area Council, according to the city of Pearland, as Community Impact Newspaper reported in January 2020.
The Texas Department of Transportation will be widening Broadway Street to relieve congestion. The construction timeline for the project is undetermined, but environmental clearance was granted for the project in March 2020.
The report includes a cost of congestion for each road, TTI Senior Research Engineer Tim Lomax said.
Lomax said this metric looks at the loss of productivity as drivers wait in traffic as well as fuel wasted due to stop-and-go conditions.
The annual congestion cost for Broadway Street from Hwy. 288 to Hwy. 35 was estimated to be $19.3 million in this year’s report.
Other roads in Pearland and Friendswood fell in the congestion rankings. The roads are ranked relatively low statewide, according to the TTI data. Hwy. 288 from the Beltway to Hwy. 6 ranked 680th in 2018 and 922nd in 2019. FM 518 from Hwy. 35 to FM 528, or Parkwood Avenue, ranked 433rd in 2018 and 592nd in 2019.
Parkwood Avenue rose in rankings from 2018 to 2019. Parkwood Avenue from Sunset Drive in Friendswood to Hwy. 35 ranked at No. 1,123 in 2018 and No. 1,039 in 2019.
Based on preliminary data from 2020, Lomax said there has been a noted change in traffic patterns, including more muted morning rush hour peaks.
“Even in the afternoons, we’re not seeing the same types of congestion,” he said. “It may be changing work habits with people going into the office fewer days a week, fewer hours in the day, working slightly different hours.”
However, Lomax said it was too early to tell to what extent those adaptations will remain after the pandemic subsides.
“I tend to think we’re going to go back to something closer to the old normal,” he said.
