traffic watch

Houston's 12 most dangerous intersections are putting drivers at risk

An intersection at Allen Parkway makes the list.

Photo by ©Morris Malakoff

Driving in Houston can be dangerous, but do you know the most dangerous intersections in Houston?

In southwest Houston, the intersection of Bellaire and Ranchester has wide sidewalks and updated crossing signals, but advocacy groups have named it one of the most dangerous intersections in Houston from 2013 to 2017.

"At this particular intersection, there were 11 crashes, and that includes one person walking who was killed in a crash," says Oni Blair, executive director of LINK Houston.

The advocacy group is interested in how walkers, cyclists, and drivers all use the roads to reach opportunities in the region. Reporter Elissa Rivas walked the intersection and noticed a large metal control box sitting on the corner, blocking drivers' view from the sidewalk.

"There's no definition for where the driver should stop, or where the walker should be going across," Blair says.

Beverly Edwards, a resident in the area, says people often find themselves dodging traffic. "You have to run and get out the way because they're going pretty fast," Edwards says.

The City of Houston has made dozens of intersections priority for safety evaluations based on recommendations by LINK Houston and the cycling advocacy group, BikeHouston.

City officials say they have worked with the Federal Highway Administration to conduct what is calls "road safety audits."

The audits include the input of Houston Public Works staff, the Houston Police Department, METRO, BikeHouston, and Link Houston.

The city says they are reviewing traffic volumes, historical crash data and have gone to each of the sites to see the conditions first-hand and brainstorm safety recommendations.

Here's a list of the intersections undergoing road safety audits:

Bellaire and Ranchester
Bellaire and Gessner
Fondren and W. Bellfort
Bissonnet and Wilcrest
Taylor near Spring
Washington and Patterson
Nicholson at 11th
Spur 527 & Hawthorne
Shepherd and Allen Parkway
Fannin at Pierce
Longpoint and Gessner
West and Airline

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transportation traffic

income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family