TXDOT NEEDS TO EVALUATE SH99 SAFETY AS MULTIPLE VEHICLES HAVE CRASHED OFF OVERPASSES DROPPING TO ROAD BELOW

March 17 2025, 10:22 am

ALL PAST INCIDENTS INCLUDED BELOW ALONG WITH THIS MORNING’S CRASH

About 1 am, Montgomery County Precinct 4 along with MCHD and EMCFD were dispatched to a major accident on FM 1485 at SH 99. Units arrived on the scene to find a Honda Civic with heavy front end damage against the wall of the SH 99 overpass. The driver was out walking around. Deputies learned the driver was traveling east on SH 99 at a high rate of speed as he approached the FM 1485 overpass, the road curves. The driver drove into the grass median between the eastbound and westbound lanes of SH 99. Without making contact with the cables or guardrail, he continued for over 100 yards before launching off the wall of the overpass on the west side of FM 1485. The Civic flew across a sidewalk, 4 lanes of traffic, before hitting the curb of the westbound to eastbound u-turn lane. He then continued across the u-turn lane and struck the overpass wall on the west side of FM 1485. The driver was transported to HCA Kingwood but had no serious injuries. This is the seventh crash between SH 249 and FM 1485 in the past 6 months. When SH 99 was designed, there were openings in the cable and guardrails, through which a vehicle can easily get in. From there they can continue between the eastbound and westbound lanes until they get to the overpass. Once there, TXDOT has no guardrails to stop a vehicle from going over the side and dropping to the roadway below. Several of these crashes have turned fatal.

MARCH 13, 2025

TRUCK RUNS OFF SH99 INTO DRAINAGE CANAL BELOW

Just after 7 pm, a GMC pickup was traveling east on SH 99 between Highland Hollow and FM 1314 when the driver lost control. He hit the guardrail, tearing over 100 feet down, then, without a guardrail in front of him, his vehicle rolled multiple times off the edge of the bridge and dropped to the drainage canal below. There were four males in the vehicle. The two front seat passengers had seatbelts, the two rear did not. Two were transported to Kingwood Hospital in stable condition. With fuel leaking into the drainage canal,, TXDOT requested Master Hazmat to the scene. Both inside lanes at that location will be closed for several hours. DPS investigated the crash. This is the fifth crash in the past year on SH 99 in which there was no type of device to stop a vehicle from going below. The others jumped off the bridge wall. Two of those were fatal.

JULY 7, 2024

NEW CANEY FATAL CRASH-JEEP GOES OFF FREEWAY OVERPASS

At 12:40 am Sunday, EMC and Porter Fire were dispatched to a reported crash involving a vehicle that left the freeway and crashed under the overpass. Units got there to find a Jeep Wrangler upside down on FM 1485 under SH 99. The driver had been ejected from the vehicle and was deceased. The driver’s wife, who was in the passenger seat, was in stable condition and transported to Kingwood Hospital. She did have a seatbelt on. DPS Troopers determined the Jeep was westbound on SH 99 between Wilderness and Galaxy Drive. As he approached the FM 1485 overpass, the 30-year-old male left the roadway and traveled down the center grassy median. With no barrier at the overpass, the Jeep launched off and landed upside down some 20 feet below. The driver who was not wearing a seatbelt was ejected from the vehicle. Eickenhorst Funeral Directors transported the victim to the Montgomery County Forensic Center for autopsy.

FEBRUARY 10, 2024

CRASH SENDS TRUCK OFF SH 99 OVERPASS

At 12:30 AM Saturday Porter Fire was dispatched to a major accident on SH 99 westbound at River Walk, in Porter, just west of FM 1314. Units arrived to find several vehicles on the side of the road with flat tires. It was then they spotted a Ford pickup with heavy damage facing west in the eastbound lane on the overpass of River Walk. They started to speak to the driver of that vehicle, who was suffering a severe head injury but standing outside his truck. It was then they heard someone calling for help. Looking down off the overpass, there was a 2012 Chevrolet Utility Van on its side, THe driver was trapped inside with the van on its side. Porter crews quickly went to work to cut the driver out of the van. The driver, who was seatbelted in was talking the entire time. Once removed he was transported to Kingwood Hospital in stable condition with no visible injuries. DPS investigated the crash and determined the FOrd King Ranch driven by a male from Livingston was traveling westbound on SH 99 at an extremely high rate of speed. He slammed into the rear of the van pushing it through the cable barrier in the median, across the westbound lanes, at which point they separated and the van hit the guardrail launching off the overpass and landing on the roadway below as it rolled on its side. Workers with Body Colors Wrecker, CJ Towing, and County Line Wrecker Services spent close to 2 hours picking up electrical tools and supplies that were scattered from the van. Wreckers assisted several vehicles on the shoulder of the freeway that hit debris and flattened tires. One young man from Florida hit a tire, ripping out his transmission and oil pan.

AUGUST 16, 2023

FATAL CRASH IN PORTER AS VEHICLE LAUNCHES OFF FREEWAY OVERPASS

At 1:30 pm a male driver in a Honda Accord was westbound on SH 99 just east of I-69. For unknown reasons, he left the left shoulder of the freeway and went between the guardrails of the eastbound and westbound lanes on SH99 just before the overpass. The vehicle launched several hundred yards and dropped some 50 feet below. The driver was ejected and pronounced deceased on the scene. DPS is investigating the crash. No other vehicles were involved. Montgomery County Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Jason Dunn responded to the scene for the inquest and ordered Eickenhorst Funeral Directors to transport the victim to the Montgomery County Forensic Center.