San Antonio traffic sucks, and data from the State of Texas proves it

If you think San Antonio traffic is bad, well, you’re correct. But it’s worse in Houston and Dallas. Credit: Shutterstock / Khairil Azhar Junos

You’re not imagining it, friends. That rush-hour drive along I-10/I-35 in downtown San Antonio is one of Texas’ most congested highway hellscapes.

Here’s how we know: the Texas Department of Transportation maintains an active database of the state’s 100 most congested roadways, and that corridor ranks as the 43rd-worst.

TxDOT’s database monitors 2,100 separate stretches of roadway for traffic, then ranks them by the time delay motorists experience per mile. If the tabulations are to be believed, the Alamo City is home to 10 of the worst 100 stretches of Texas roadway, according to TxDOT’s roundup of suck.

The aforementioned stretch of I-10/I-35 is SA’s worst, but other headache-inducing highways weren’t far behind.

That infuriating stretch of I-35 around Windcrest and Live Oak? No. 44. The perpetually gridlocked strip of Culebra Road/FM 471 outside Loop 1604? No. 46. And how about that portion of Loop 410 that bogs down around Castle Hills? No. 48.

Check it out on the interactive map if you care to know more about the others. But, be warned: none of ’em are pretty.

There is some good news in the data, though.

Namely, that San Antonio doesn’t have it as bad as other big metros. At least, not yet. Houston, for example, laid claim to seven of the 10 state’s most jammed-up road sections, while second-ranked Dallas is home to roughly a fifth of the entire top 100 list.

So, next time you’re tempted to beat your head against the steering wheel as you’re mired in a bumper-to-bumper construction-zone nightmare on 1-35 in Northeast San Antonio, remember it could always be worse.

A whole lot worse.

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San Antonio traffic sucks, and data from the State of Texas proves it

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