eyes on the road

5 Houston highways rank among deadliest roads in America, per report

I-45 is in the hotseat again.

Photo courtesy of TXDOT

Heads up to Houstonians commuting on the city's freeways: Five busy Harris County highways were just deemed among the deadliest roads in the country, with I-45 in Houston ranking as the deadliest road in Texas. That's according to a new study based on the latest National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data.

The study, commissioned by Santa Ana, California-based company Future Bail Bonds, compared fatal crash data across 96,000 U.S. roads from 2019-2023. The top 150 "deadliest" roads were ranked by the total number of fatal crashes that occurred during the five-year period.

The No. 1 deadliest road in America is I-15 in San Bernardino County, California, the study found. The interstate, which runs from Southern California to Las Vegas, experienced the highest rate of deadly car crashes from 2019-2023 with 196 crashes.

For comparison, I-45 in Houston had 88 fatal vehicle wrecks during the same time period to rank as the 16th deadliest U.S. road and No. 1 deadliest in Texas. Considering that tens of thousands of people drive the road every day, a fatal crash is relatively unlikely, but the data underscores the need for drivers to remain aware of their surroundings at all times.

The crowded highway stretches from Dallas to Galveston, and the I-45 North Freeway earned its own spot on the list as the 124th deadliest U.S. road. I-45N experienced 44 deadly crashes between 2019 and 2023, the report said. I-45's controversial expansion project between downtown Houston and the north Sam Houston Tollway (and portions of connecting freeways) also earned it a new reputation as a "freeway without a future" by the activist group Congress for the New Urbanism.

Elsewhere in Harris County, I-10 ranked as the 22nd deadliest U.S. highway on the list with 76 fatal crashes during the five-year span. It was dubbed the third most fatal Texas highway, with I-35 in Austin splitting up the two Houston roads as the second deadliest statewide.

"From 2019 to 2023, motor vehicle crashes claimed 186,284 lives across 96,257 roads in the United States, underscoring the persistent danger on American roadways," the report said.

Two more Houston highways ranked much farther down the report, but still remained among the top 150 deadliest U.S. roads: FM 1960 ranked 114th on the list with 45 fatal crashes, and I-610 ranked No. 131 with 43 fatal crashes.

Nine other Texas roads that were deemed the deadliest in America with the highest rates of fatal vehicle crashes from 2019-2023 include:

No. 23 – I-30 in Dallas County (76 crashes)
No. 27 – I-410 in Bexar County (73 crashes)
No. 32 – I-10 in El Paso County (69 crashes)
No. 63 – I-20 in Tarrant County (56 crashes)
No. 66 – I-820 in Tarrant County (55 crashes)
No. 115 – SR-12 in Dallas County (45 crashes)
No. 130 – I-35 in Bexar County (43 crashes)
No. 132 – I-635 in Dallas County (43 crashes)
No. 141 – I-10 in Jefferson County (42 crashes)

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good for the soul

Houston blooms as No. 3 best city for urban gardening in the U.S.

Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash

Let's get gardening, Houston

Folks in the Bayou City have plenty of reasons to develop a green thumb: Houston has harvested new acclaim as the No. 3 best city in America for urban gardening in 2026.

Lawnstarter's annual report, "2026’s Best Cities for Urban Gardening," compared 500 U.S. cities based on their respective public access to community gardens, climate, the prevalence of nurseries and gardening supply stores, and the number of regional gardening clubs and online groups.

Atlanta topped the list as the No. 1 best U.S. city, followed by Miami (No. 2); St. Louis (No. 4); and Jacksonville, Florida (No. 5).

For the uninitiated, urban gardening is the practice of growing plants or food in densely populated areas. Local examples include Blackwood Skyfarm, which is the largest rooftop farm in Texas, or Urban Harvest's 160 affiliate gardens – but backyards, apartment balconies, and vacant lots could also fit the bill. Additionally, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department has an Urban Garden Program where residents can volunteer to help locate sections of local parks to turn into community gardens.

Houston was No. 1 nationally in the "supplies" rank, and Lawnstarter said the city is home to 253 landscaping equipment shops – the most in the U.S. – and the second-highest number of gardening stores (276) and nurseries (132). The city also earned a respectable No. 6 rank for its "support and interest" of urban gardening, meaning many residents are searching terms like "community gardens," "vertical gardening," and others.

Here's how the city fared in the remaining three categories:

No. 115 – Public access
No. 157 – Climate
No. 390 – Private access (based on average yard size for starting an at-home garden)

Cathy Walker, president of the American Community Gardening Association, offered some tips for first-time gardeners to help get their hands in the soil: choose only a few easy growing plants to start; learn which growing zone you're in to determine the plants that will thrive in your area; watch how much sunlight your garden space gets daily; and prioritize keeping soil healthy with compost and mulch.

Ecoregions are also helpful for understanding what plants will thrive. Whereas zones are about temperature, ecoregions are much more detailed groups. Planters can learn about their ecoregion and get personalized growing tips from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation in its new native planting app, Wild Thumb.

Starting your own garden can also have a financial benefit, the report suggested. However, up-front costs can get high in gardening, so gardeners might have to stick to it for a few seasons to see savings.

"With grocery prices projected to rise by 3.1 percent in 2026, there’s never been a better time to grow your own food," the report's author wrote. "Estimates show that growing a 600-square-foot plot for fruits and vegetables can save you around $600 in a single season."

The top 10 best cities for urban gardening in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Atlanta
No. 2 – Miami
No. 3 – Houston
No. 4 – St. Louis
No. 5 – Jacksonville, Florida
No. 6 – Orlando
No. 7 – Cincinnati
No. 8 – Fort Meyers, Florida
No. 9 – Tampa
No. 10 – Austin

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