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Emilio's wreck just latest incident at 'freaky' junction

By ALLAN TURNER
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Quick wits, steely nerves and a healthy fear of things unseen - like the sport utility vehicle barreling up your blind side at 80 mph - are what it takes to negotiate the perils of Houston's notorious West Loop-U.S. 59 interchange.

And even though significant improvements were made during the state's recently completed $344 million West Loop upgrade, the Loop 610-U.S. 59 juncture remains "a freaky little interchange" to police who clean up the wreckage of nearly daily smashups.

Tejano Grammy award-winner Emilio Navaira became a victim of the site early Sunday when the tour bus he was driving slammed into the barrel-girded concrete abutment at the northbound lanes' U.S. 59 exit.

Police say the musician was hurled through the windshield after the bus plowed into, then over, the nine-barrel barrier.

Navaira on Thursday was in critical condition at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, but was showing signs of regaining consciousness. Doctors said he opened his eyes and moved his arms and legs.

"It's always been a problem," Bellaire Assistant Police Chief Byron Holloway said of the interchange.

Intoxicated drivers frequently smash into the crash barrels, he said. The most serious continuing problem, though, is what happens during evening rush hour, when thousands of motorists access U.S. 59 to the southwest suburbs.

Clogged exit lanes

Rear-end collisions occur as exiting traffic reaches a near standstill - a fact other motorists maneuvering to reach the exit lane fail to notice until it's too late, Holloway said.

Other times, drivers intent on cutting in front of the backed-up queue of cars will slow or stop in a free-flowing traffic lane.

Ambulance statistics offer an imperfect view of the problem's severity because multiple agencies often dispatch ambulances, only one or none of which actually transports a victim to the hospital. Also, fatalities often occur later at the hospital and are not recorded in initial reports.

The Bellaire Fire Department has dispatched ambulances to 21 crashes at or near the exits this year, said Assistant Chief Alton Moses. Last year, the Bellaire Fire Department dispatched 51 ambulances and the Houston Fire Department sent 168.

300,000 vehicles a day

Until 1968, when state transportation officials installed Houston's first experimental crash barrels, the West Loop's U.S. 59 and Interstate 10 exits were considered among the city's most deadly.

Today, said Rory Meza, who supervises the Texas Department of Transportation division that designs the safety barriers, the rows of orange, high-density plastic barrels are capable of stopping a pickup traveling 62 mph.

If occupants are wearing seat belts and the vehicle is equipped with air bags, she said, injuries often are minor.

The transportation agency estimates that 300,000 vehicles a day pass through the interchange, either on the West Loop or U.S. 59, making it the busiest in the state.

That, said Holloway, is the key to the problem: The highway exits never were designed to carry the current traffic load.

"When the highway was built, there just wasn't that much traffic headed to Fort Bend County," he said. "People who drive that route every day need to be aware that it's a freaky little interchange. Those drivers not familiar with the area, well, when you drive in Houston, Texas, traffic, you always need to be careful."

Holloway said the Transportation Department has done "an incredible amount" to improve traffic flow.

Transportation Department spokeswoman Raquelle Lewis said improvements included relocating highway entrance ramps that previously dumped traffic onto the West Loop a short distance from the U.S. 59 exits.

Easing the impact

In the case of Loop 610's northbound lanes, the Fournace Street entrance to the highway was replaced by an exit - helping to reduce traffic congestion in advance of the U.S. 59 exit. Additionally, the northbound access road was reconfigured to shunt traffic onto the loop north of the U.S. 59 exit.

Previously, motorists entering the loop from Fournace had to make a quick decision: whether to exit on U.S. 59 or maneuver left to stay on the loop. Similar improvements were made on the West Loop's southbound lanes, Lewis said.

Lewis said the changes also provide greater visibility for those entering the loop's traffic, lessening the need for them to make split-second decisions.

The highway improvements, however, did not increase the West Loop's traffic capacity.