We are leaving San Antonio, Friday, July 9th (driving) to go to WDW. What time does Houston start getting their morning rush hour traffic? Trying to figure out what time to leave and where to stop for breakfast. We don't know if we should try to beat the morning traffic or wait until after.
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Question for Houston area people
- Thread starter Disnut
- Start date
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
I'm gathering you'd be coming through on I-10. Morning rush hour starts building here around 5:30am...7-7:30 is when it really starts to pick up...and things die down between 9 & 10am. I-10 hasn't been as bad since the expansion project, which included more lanes + toll lanes (but most people who live out that way still avoid the hwy for morning/evening rush due to bad traffic). You'll start seeing traffic as you hit the Katy area. Traffic east of downtown is not nearly as bad as the west side. I drove out to NOLA a few months ago in peak rush hour, hit I-10 east of downtown and it was a breeze. A lot of places shut down or moved with the expansion- and I moved to a different part of town about 4 yrs ago...so not sure if there's still a 59 Diner shortly before you hit the south side of 610. I think there's a Denny's around Washington once inside the 610 Loop. One of the best is Mama's Cafe (I think the orig is in San Antonio), but you'd have to cut in to Westheimer near the Galleria- and that may take more time than it's really worth.
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:sohappy::snore::sohappy:
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
Yeah- we'll be making that drive in December. I'm hoping it's not too too ambitious- but we're going to try to drive to Gainesville or Ocala, FL on day 1 so it's a relatively short drive on day 2. Who knows where we'll be hitting rush hour for our journey...maybe Baton Rouge or Mobile if we make super time. :shrug:
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I left the Katy area at around 4am on Friday may 28 and made it to Claremont Fl (about 20 mins from WDW) by 8:30 pm EST. I was traveling by myself (took luggage for the other five in our group that flew) so I didn't have to stop much etc.
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We are trying to get to Biloxi, MS on that day and then Gainsville the next day. So our long day will be that Friday. We have 3 DDs, my DH and myself.
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GaBookworm
New Member
Based on experience from Houston, you can get to WDW in one l o n g day but it's not recommended. Particularly not recommended coming back when you are more tired.
Last time going down we stopped overnight in Milton FL at a nice Holiday Inn Express. Coming back we stopped in Biloxi MS at a casino hotel.
There are a lot of motels on I-10 in Claremont FL.
Mobile AL also has a lot of motels and restauants.
The most boring stretch, to me, is I-10 between Pensacola and I-75.
Coming back, if you can drive as far as I-10 on I-75 after leaving WDW that first afternoon, it will make the next day seem much shorter.
Good luck.
PS- Be sure to get off I-10 in Baton Rougue and get on I-12. Otherwise you go through New Orleans.
Last time going down we stopped overnight in Milton FL at a nice Holiday Inn Express. Coming back we stopped in Biloxi MS at a casino hotel.
There are a lot of motels on I-10 in Claremont FL.
Mobile AL also has a lot of motels and restauants.
The most boring stretch, to me, is I-10 between Pensacola and I-75.
Coming back, if you can drive as far as I-10 on I-75 after leaving WDW that first afternoon, it will make the next day seem much shorter.
Good luck.
PS- Be sure to get off I-10 in Baton Rougue and get on I-12. Otherwise you go through New Orleans.
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sweetpee_1993
Well-Known Member
Baton Rouge for morning/evening rush hour is insane. We try to avoid it as much as possible. Mobile eastbound during evening rush is baaaad because you have 3 lanes going down to just 2 slow moving lanes going into the tunnel. I know that gets bad but it's hard to say if it's worse than Baton Rouge. If you can time it so you get thru Baton Rouge a little earlier or just before the rush so you can spend those bad hours in between that's best. If it looks like you'll be hitting Mobile at the rush stop in Gulfport at the outlets & stretch your legs to kill some time. Lol!
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Thanks for this info. We need to look at what time we will be going through these places. We have travelled through here several times but it has been 5yrs since the last time.
What is gas prices in some of these places? We have anywhere from $2.43 to $2.59
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sweetpee_1993
Well-Known Member
Lemme go get my receipts. We came from Pensacola, Florida to south of Beaumont, Texas this past Saturday.
2 stops in Louisiana were $2.59/gallon & 1 stop just west of Mobile, Alabama (in Theodore near the cemetery where the DH's grandfather is buried) was $2.58/gallon. All were for regular unleaded.
:wave:
If you stop in Gulfport, Mississippi by the outlet center go past the traffic light for the outlets on down into town. Maybe a couple blocks further on the right is a Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop. Talk about heaven! You can see the doughnuts being cooked. There's nothing like the warm fresh KK's. :slurp: The coffee is good stuff, too! If you want Starbucks go back to the other side of the interstate and it'll be on your right side by the traffic light. More good stuff.
If you want good ice cream stop in at the Highway 21 / Covington exit in Louisiana (we used to live there). Head north on Highway 21 and there's a Coldstone Creamery on the right side. It's situated next to a WOW Cafe which is some yummy grub, too! :slurp:
2 stops in Louisiana were $2.59/gallon & 1 stop just west of Mobile, Alabama (in Theodore near the cemetery where the DH's grandfather is buried) was $2.58/gallon. All were for regular unleaded.
:wave:
If you stop in Gulfport, Mississippi by the outlet center go past the traffic light for the outlets on down into town. Maybe a couple blocks further on the right is a Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop. Talk about heaven! You can see the doughnuts being cooked. There's nothing like the warm fresh KK's. :slurp: The coffee is good stuff, too! If you want Starbucks go back to the other side of the interstate and it'll be on your right side by the traffic light. More good stuff.
If you want good ice cream stop in at the Highway 21 / Covington exit in Louisiana (we used to live there). Head north on Highway 21 and there's a Coldstone Creamery on the right side. It's situated next to a WOW Cafe which is some yummy grub, too! :slurp:
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bradandsarabr
Member
Houston rush hour moves most of the time. If you hit Baton Rouge in the afternoon rush, it doesn't move eastbound. Fortunately you will be going east during the a.m. coummute. The morning east bound commute isn't bad unless there is an accident.
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Thanks
We are trying to time it just right. :dazzle:
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HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
Thankfully, you're also making the drive while school is out. That almost always makes for shorter rush hour drive times in H-town.
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sweetpee_1993
Well-Known Member
Two summers ago I hit BR eastbound at the morning rush. Approaching the west side of town & the river bridge we were backed up for maaaany miles barely crawling because of an accident just on the other side of the bridge. Lemme just say sitting in my little Mazda that I used to drive on top of the bridge with big rigs zinging past in the opposite direction and feeling that bridge bounce up & down was not fun for me. I prayed, I cursed at the hubby over the phone while he laughed at my hysteria, etc. At some point during the undulating Tigger ride I gave up, announced that we were all gonna die when the bridge gave out from under us, and let the kids just laugh at me. LOL! Not a fun day for me. Silly in retrospect but at the time I was freakin'. :lol: ((Not that it even compares, but after just one ride across the Huey P. Long in NOLA in 1997 I forever made the hubby drive around the long way instead of drive across with me or our kids in the car. That bridge is the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life! :lol: ))
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As a person who lives on the West side of Houston I can tell you that morning rush hour is not that bad at all. The traffic moves. The worst spot will be from Katy to Gessner, but once you get close to the loop you'll be going 60-70 mph, even at 7:30 or 8:00 am.
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HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
Jealous! We used to have a house Westheimer/Gessner area and the commute was nothing, but now I'm stuck with 288 and the various out of the way alternate routes.
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