The Greater Houston area is a large city, and that is for sure. When someone is new to the area, it can be easy to get turned around, not knowing the nicknames of all of the highways people will refer to when giving directions. One of the more helpful things one can do, is get familiar with the local lingo and begin to get acclimated to the name of the roads below. This can be a complete time saver, especially when looking for hospitals, schools, shopping areas and places one may want to work. Knowing which highways are on which ends of town can make anyone feel more confident on these huge major freeways within the Houston area, plus it will make commuting a lot less intimidating. Check the list below and get familiar with the nicknames of the Houston area highways:
- I-10 East: Baytown-East Freeway
- 1-10 West: Katy Freeway
- I-45 South: Gulf Freeway
- I-45 North: North Freeway
- 1-69 / US 59 Northeast: Eastex Freeway
- 1-69 / US 59 Southwest: Southwest Freeway
- I-610: “The Loop” or 610 Loop
- Sam Houston Tollway: Beltway 8
- Fort Bend Tollway: Fort Bend Parkway / Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road
- Hardy Toll Road: “The Hardy”
- Westpark Tollway: “The Westpark”
- US 90: Crosby Freeway
- US 290: Northwest Freeway
- Spur 5: Spur 5
- Spur 330: Decker Drive
- Spur 527: The Downtown Split
- SH 99 / SH 99 Toll: The Grand Parkway
- SH 146: Baytown Freeway
- SH 225: La Porte Freeway
- SH 249: Tomball Parkway / Tomball Tollway
- SH 288: South Freeway
- FM 1764: Emmett F. Lowry Expressway
Houston Transtar is a great resource for checking for live traffic information on these major highways.
