How to get home from the Galleria area at 5pm to Kingwood in under an hour?

thanks 

Helicopter. 

Unicorn 

TARDIS. 

1000 club sticker 

OK. you people are no help. and I know the truth when I see it.....lol 

You are leaving one of the most horrible areas at the most horrible time...sorry love. Have no clue, lol. 

Once you hit the HOV Lane, assuming you will use it as a Tollway, it will take you 35 mins to get to KW, that is if you don't get stuck behind a slow driver going 55 (so frustrating) Your trouble will be getting to that Toll Road. It will take you at least 30 mins or more to get to it from the Galleria area. 

Ride the bus. Takes longer but less stress or just stay and shop until the traffic dies down, that's what my wife does. 

Took me an hour and a half at 5pm last Monday... A co-worker took Memorial to downtown, got on the HOV (paid the toll with one in the car) and made it to Humble in just about an hour... 

How to get home from the Galleria area at 5pm to Kingwood in under an hour?

No..Not happening. 

o..Not happening.

I hate to say "I told you so" but ... I told you so! LOL

I had the unfortunate opportunity to have a dr's appointment in Sugar Land today at 2:40. Yep, got out of his office and lab at 4:05 and didn't get home until 5:15. I was thinking about you as I sat in the bumper to bumper traffic at the 59/downtown/45 split today. No - I was not laughing but grateful that I don't have that to do EVERY stinkin' day anymore. I would be a full fledged alcoholic by now if I still had to do that to get home.

It is what it is ... and it ain't going to get any better.

Hope your first day went well and that things work out well for you. The traffic is and will always be horrible around that area. Good luck. 

If there is a park and ride hop on for sure! Atleast you can sit back and let someone else stress the drive! 

I do think there is a Park and Ride pick up/drop off right at the Tower. 

If you ride the park and ride, you can KU the whole way home! That will relax you ;) 

Omg Wip, that is a funny image, lol. 

It's funny till you get all agitated at a poster and look up and realize the person next to you is also agitatedly posting on KU. . .then. . .awkward!!!!

And then there is Joe Blow with his laptop, IPad, three IPhones and a kindle just a posting away! 

Lmao, was that you last Thursday? 

Bwa ha ha!! I'll never tell! 

It's funny till you get all agitated at a poster and look up and realize the person next to you is also agitatedly posting on KU. . .then. . .awkward!!!!

That would be almost as awkward as the lady sitting next to you on the bus having her "personal vibrating device" fall out of her purse, on to your foot. yes, that really happened to me. 

Or the big guy who, no matter how much you smooch over, has his thigh plastered to yours... 

Oh dear heavens Fisher! Lol!!!!! What did you do??? 

Gigi, next time you get to the 59/45 junction head towards 45 but exit @Elgin, turn left and take a right to ant of those one way streets to get into town. It's dead at that hour cuz everyone's on the freeway. Get on the HOV at Chanevert. 

I can picture him assisting with the clean up, lol. 

Wait, think we discouraging red here a bit... 

Though they do be KW peeps...lol. 

Oh dear heavens Fisher! Lol!!!!! What did you do????

She noticed immediately and reached down and put it back in her purse; glanced my way with a shrug and grin.

I just turned beet red.

I probably missed out on what could have been a special moment.

This was on the Kingwood to Houston Center route, so if this story sounds "familiar" to anyone here is the wink I should have given you. ;) 

Lmao 

Memorial to downtown, got on the HOV

This^^^ is probably the fastest legal way for ground transportation.

get to the 59/45 junction head towards 45 but exit @Elgin, turn left and take a right to ant of those one way streets to get into town. It's dead at that hour cuz everyone's on the freeway. Get on the HOV at Chanevert.

It's even faster to take the Polk St/GRB exit from 59, stay on Chartres until Congress or Commerce, then turn on Chenevert to HOV. Or even just stay on 59 until the HOV onramp after I-10. Once you get past the 59/45/288 spaghetti bowl, it doesn't slow down again until 610. 

If I am early enough (fat chance) I take Polk. But I always get tangled up in the traffic @59//45/288 mess then again in front of GRB. By taking Elgin, that route avoids all that. 

I've gone many different routes over the years, and I've even timed them. It seems like it's faster when you go on the streets, but unless there is an accident or some other unusual thing on the highway, it's still usually faster to stay on 59 going north through downtown. (Going south is a different story.) It seems faster on the streets because you do go about 5 to 10 mph faster when you are moving, but those stoplights make a huge difference. Mostly because there is not a good route with the lights all or mostly synchronized, like there is going south. Yes, I've timed the exact route you specify, and it is about 3 to 5 minutes faster on 59, unless there is an accident or something unusual going on. 

To those saying take P&R..I wasn't aware that there was a P&R to the Galleria. 

I don't know how you all do it. I am very thankful to work from home and do not have to venture out in traffic. Once in a while I have to go to an appointment in the medical center and I carefully time it to not be ending after 3 pm. 

.I wasn't aware that there was a P&R to the Galleria.

There may not be ... I know that quite a few of the folks I worked with during my time at the Galleria, were riding commuter vans. I think the CoH has - or used to have - a website for employees to check in to see if there are any vans between the locations you are traveling. Back then, riding the vans was a lot cheaper than driving and some were subsidized by employers. Plus, the vans can use the HOV lanes.

The traffic in that area just sucks, always has, always will! It is a living nightmare to try to drive around that area at Christmas time. 

There may not be ... I know that quite a few of the folks I worked with during my time at the Galleria, were riding commuter vans. I think the CoH has - or used to have - a website for employees to check in to see if there are any vans between the locations you are traveling. Back then, riding the vans was a lot cheaper than driving and some were subsidized by employers. Plus, the vans can use the HOV lanes.


Yes, you can go to metro's ride match and look for a van. That could be an option. I think several years ago there was a Park and Ride bus from KW to the Galleria but now the only way that I know of to take the bus would be to get a transfer downtown and I think that would be a PITA. 

If you haven't started to use the Waze app, you should definitely try it. It will redirect you around the slow downs and teach you new routes using little known surface streets instead of freeways. My DH swears by it, and it even works outside the US, so he uses it when he travels too! 

Sometimes these little known side streets are not that safe, especially for a woman.