It may be no surprise that Dallas County has some of the most congested roads in the state.
An annual report from Texas A&M Transportation Institute showed an increase in congested highways and streets in 2021, according to Community Impact.
Twenty of the state’s top 100 busiest segments of roadways were located in Dallas County.
The report tracked the delay congestion costs in terms of “time spent stuck in gridlock.”
Over 1,860 routes in 23 urban areas were analyzed during the study, funded by the Texas Department of Transportation. It looked at how long drivers were in traffic jams compared to when they drove under non-congested conditions.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area accounted for 37 of the top 100 busiest roadways, up from 34 in 2021. More specifically, Dallas County had three in the top 10.
The busiest stretch was Woodall Rodgers Freeway between US 75 and North Beckley Avenue, the No.2 spot in the state. It created more than 1 million hours of delays and $34.2 million in losses due to congestion, according to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
Delays on the road are not only frustrating but also have significant financial implications. A total of $3.8 billion was lost between wasted fuel and a loss of productive time in 2021, and truck congestion costs were $620 million, according to Community Impact.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, several road widening projects are underway in hopes of easing congestion.
The West Loop in Houston was the most traffic-congested stretch in 2021 for the second year, and eight of the top 10 were unchanged from the previous two years.
Researchers are not expecting things to improve either, as they expect traffic to return to “familiar intensity” as the state’s population grows and its economy stays strong.
Indeed, Texas’ population growth is certainly not helping the situation. Between 2010 and 2020, the state added nearly 4 million residents. Texas’ population has now surpassed 30 million people.
“Traffic congestion isn’t just a big-city problem,” said David Schrank, the Texas A&M’s Travel Institute’s lead researcher. “That problem is almost sure to get worse as our population surges by almost 20 million in the next 25 years.”
“With that kind of growth, Texas needs to use every possible means to keep people and goods moving,” Schrank said. “We need to add capacity, operate the system efficiently, and give people options for how to travel.”