2 loose spools removed from inbound Katy Freeway near Houston Avenue bridge

Curiously enough, ABC13 reported on a similar blockage at the same exact spot back on February 2022.

ByMatt Guillermo KTRK logo
Thursday, August 24, 2023
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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston drivers were forced to slow down on the inbound Katy Freeway on Thursday afternoon as crews tried to clear the roadway of two loose spools.

A Houston TranStar camera picked up one of the spools out on the freeway just past the Houston Avenue bridge. The ABC13 newsroom first learned of the obstruction just before 3:30 p.m.

The camera stream showed the right two lanes being blocked as workers cone off the area.

An additional glance more than an hour later showed crews working to collect two spools. An Eyewitness News viewer said the second one jumped the outside wall and wound up in the bushes, but it didn't appear that there was damage to the roadway or other passing vehicles.

The spools were removed, cleared from the freeway just before 6 p.m.

Houston drivers have been well-acquainted with lost spool loads interrupting traffic across the city's freeways.

If Thursday's incident sounds familiar to you, that's because Eyewitness News reported on a similar lost load incident in the same exact spot. We're not kidding.

FROM 2022: 2 lanes of Katy Freeway closed at Houston Avenue due to loose spool stuck under bridge, HPD says

ABC13 also produced a timeline of loose spools from five years ago, when it seemed this thing became a monthly occurrence.

TIMELINE: Houston drivers dodge 5 loose spools on freeways

Houston, we have a spool problem.