Now, for the really important stuff! If you are driving down to Houston on Friday, there are several things you need to be prepared for.
First, there is MAJOR road resurfacing taking place for about a five mile stretch starting north of Centerville and continuing to the Centerville 'on ramp' after your stop at Woody's. The left lane is COMPLETELY CLOSED and all traffic is diverted to the right hand lane. This causes a MAJOR slow down and backup. BE READY FOR DELAYS! You'll probably want to stop at Woody's after this but don't dawdle too long because there's more awaiting you on I-45. Read on!
Second, there is ANOTHER MAJOR road resurfacing project taking place beginning just north of Madisonville and continuing southbound for about a five mile stretch in the left hand lane. Again, all traffic is being rerouted to the right hand lane.
Third - AND THIS IS GONNA BE THE KILLER IF YOU DON'T LEAVE DALLAS EARLY ENOUGH! - there is MAJOR CONSTRUCTION taking place on Interstate 45 in Conroe. We sat in traffic tonight at 9:15 p.m. for about 15 minutes before finally exiting at Teas Road and getting on old Hwy. 75. The highway department is alternately closing lanes on the southbound side for this project. We took Hwy. 75 thru downtown Conroe until we reached Loop 336 on the south side of town and got back on I-45. There is no construction on I-45 from this point on into Harris County/Houston. IF YOU DON'T LEAVE DALLAS EARLY ENOUGH, THIS CONSTRUCTION COULD CAUSE YOU A MAJOR DELAY FRIDAY!
Lastly, we counted at least 10 law enforcement cruisers between Dallas and Huntsville on Thursday. The DPS troopers, sheriff's deputies and local police are already out in force for Labor Day travelers so - BE SAFE and BE AWARE!
Oh, yeah...earlier this week I posted SMU-related landmarks to look for on Interstate 45 like the town of Mustang (south of Corsicana) and Mustang Creek (between Centerville and the Normangee exit). Well, I found one more that I thought everyone would enjoy. It's between Fairfield and Teague on the east side of Interstate 45. I'll let the pic speak for itself.
GO MUSTANGS! DRIVE SAFELY! And we'll see everyone later today at Rice Stadium to start the JUNE JONES ERA of SMU FOOTBALL! BEAT THE HELL OUTTA RICE!
