Traffic -- It Was Bad Last Night, It'll Be Bad For A While

Traffic on the freeways out of downtown has cranked up to worse-than-normal status, as more and more people are getting back on the roads. Several people in this office reported sitting in gridlock late into Thursday night.

If the Texas Department of Transportation is to be believed, that traffic could last throughout next week. Stuart Corder, director of transportation operations, says that a whole bunch of traffic signals are still dead, and more drivers are opting for the freeways instead of their regular routes. Thursday probably was the first day back to work for many people, meaning later stays in the office, meaning a later rush hour.

Expect bad traffic until all lights are functioning, Corder says, and that could take weeks. More than 1200 signals – in six area counties – were out at the beginning of the week, and according to Corder, about 400 have been restored.

“Over fifty percent of our signals suffered significant damage that we’re having to fix,” Corder says. “For the coming week, it is still going to be an issue in our region.”

-- Paul Knight