traffic watch

Houston drivers can enjoy more open lanes on 290 as construction nears end

It's an early Christmas gift for drivers on 290.

Photo courtesy of TxDOT

The Texas Department of Transportation has good news for drivers traveling down US-290. TxDOT is urging motorists and businesses along US-290 to celebrate the opening of additional lanes, an extended HOV lane, and entrance and exit ramps.

The US-290 Fair and Fest is happening Saturday, December 15 at the West Little Park and Ride from 10 am to 1 pm. Attendees will be able to enjoy activities, music, and local business vendors during the festival.

Beginning Monday, December 17, a new HOV/HOT (Express) Lane ramp will open for traffic west of Huffmeister Road.

The new entrance ramp will be open Monday through Friday. Inbound traffic may enter between the hours of 5 am and 11 am. Outbound traffic may exit the new location from 1 pm until 8 pm.

The ramp is part of a 2.5 mile extension to U.S. 290's high-occupancy lane network and will create faster, more convenient and reliable service for more commuters.

As a result of the extension, METRO's U.S. 290 HOV/HOT (Express) ramp located west of Eldridge Parkway will close permanently on Friday, December14 at 8 pm.

TxDOT says it will continue to make progress on US-290, and released an additional list of openings scheduled for Monday, December 17:

One additional US-290 eastbound mainlane from Barker Cypress to Eldridge will open, creating a total of four mainlanes.
One additional US-290 westbound mainlane from FM-529 to SH-6 and FM 1960 will open, creating a total of five mainlanes.
All of US-290 eastbound entrance and exit ramps between Telge and Eldridge will open.
One additional westbound exit lane at SH-6 and FM-1960 will open, creating a total of two lanes.

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For more on this story, including video, visit our content partner ABC13.

transportation traffic

H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houston made a big leap back into the top 50, ranking No. 40, after previously plummeting into No. 72 last year.

Lively Houston has regained its rightful place among the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Houston the 40th best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Houston made a major rebound after plummeting to No. 73 in last year's report. In 2022, Houston ranked No. 42.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Houston in the top 10 – when explaining the Bayou City's successes. The report praised Houston's vast cultural diversity and placed a great focus on its economic prosperity, even going so far as to suggest Houston residents make more money "and can sock more away."

"...[W]here America’s fourth-largest city truly takes off is in its economic heft and wealth, ranking No. 9 globally for GDP per Capita and No. 14 for Fortune 500 companies in town," the report said. "All that rolls up into an overall Prosperity index ranking of No. 36, which is even more impressive given the No. 14-ranked Price-to Income Ratio [of the city]."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also earned spots on the World's Best Cities list for 2025, but only one made a similar rebound from the previous year's rankings. Dallas moved up from No. 66 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55. Meanwhile, Austin took its first tumble out of the 43rd spot (which it had occupied for two years straight) and now ranks No. 53.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).

traffic watch

Houston drivers can enjoy more open lanes on 290 as construction nears end

H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

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