Houston EaDo Intersection at McGowen and Chartres Sees 7 Crashes

Reported July 1, 2026

Updated

A Houston couple’s Ring security cameras have captured what they say are seven separate crashes in a single week at the same EaDo intersection near McGowen Street and Chartres Street, and the residents are raising alarms that a serious injury or death could follow if the city doesn’t act quickly to address conditions at the site.

What Residents Are Seeing on Camera

Kevyn Hollowell and his wife Zané, who live near the intersection, say the footage they’ve gathered paints a clear and troubling pattern, with multiple vehicles appearing to blow through red lights at McGowen and Chartres as drivers rush to reach the I-69 North on-ramp. According to Kevyn, many of the collisions seem to involve drivers traveling northeast on Chartres Street who are focused on merging with highway traffic rather than watching the signal at the intersection. The couple shared their camera footage with FOX 26 Houston, hoping the public attention would push the city toward a faster response.

One detail that stands out in the residents’ account is the condition of the overhead traffic signals. Kevyn told FOX 26 that lights once hung above the roadway at this intersection but were knocked down in a crash roughly a year ago and were never restored. Without overhead signals, drivers approaching on Chartres may have a much harder time spotting the red light, especially at speed, because roadside signals are easier to miss when a driver’s attention is already drifting toward an upcoming highway entrance. That gap in the infrastructure, if confirmed, could function like a blind spot built into the road itself.

• Damaged Overhead Signals: The resident says overhead traffic lights at the intersection were knocked down in a crash about a year ago and have not been replaced, potentially making the remaining signals harder for drivers to see.
• Highway Ramp Distraction: Drivers merging from Chartres Street onto I-69 North may be focusing on traffic flow rather than the signal, according to the resident’s account of how the crashes appear to unfold.
• Rapid Recurrence: Three crashes occurring within 24 hours between one Sunday and Monday morning suggests the problem isn’t random but tied to a consistent road-design or signal-visibility issue at this specific spot.
• Difficulty Reporting Through 311: The resident said he attempted to flag the problem through the city’s 311 system but ran into trouble submitting a report online, which may have delayed any official response.

How the City Has Responded So Far

City of Houston Public Works told FOX 26 that prior to the recent wave of complaints, crews were called out in May to refocus a misaligned signal at the intersection, though that repair addressed a different direction of traffic than what the residents are now describing. As of the time of FOX 26’s report, Public Works said it had received only two formal complaints about the current concerns, one submitted on June 26 and another on June 29, which is a striking contrast to the seven crashes the resident’s cameras appear to document within roughly the same period.

District D Council Member Dr. Carolyn Evans-Shabazz’s office issued a statement acknowledging the safety concerns at McGowen and Chartres, noting that while the specific intersection had not previously been the subject of a formal complaint to their office, the concerns are being taken seriously. The office said it will add the intersection to ongoing traffic safety discussions with Houston Public Works and the Houston Police Department (HPD). For residents in EaDo who rely on this corridor daily, that commitment represents a starting point, though the couple who brought the footage forward has made clear they’re hoping for concrete physical changes, not just discussions.

Why Intersections Near Highway Ramps Carry Higher Risk

Intersections that sit immediately adjacent to freeway entrance ramps are among the more collision-prone spots on urban road networks, and that’s a pattern the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and traffic engineers have long recognized. When a driver is approaching a highway on-ramp, the natural tendency is to begin scanning for highway traffic and to accelerate, which pulls attention away from signals and crossings still ahead on the surface street. For example, a driver on Chartres Street committed to reaching I-69 North may process the ramp approach as the primary task and treat the intersection signal as a secondary concern, which is exactly the kind of attentional narrowing that leads to red-light violations.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has consistently found that red-light running is one of the leading causes of urban intersection crashes, contributing to hundreds of fatalities and tens of thousands of injuries across the country each year. In Houston specifically, where dense surface-street grids intersect with major freeways at close intervals, this risk is magnified. Infrastructure measures such as overhead mast-arm signals, which hang directly above traffic lanes and are harder to miss than pole-mounted signals at the roadside, are among the standard tools that cities use to reduce red-light violations at busy or complex intersections. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and local agencies like Houston TranStar typically collaborate on signal timing and infrastructure upgrades along corridors that show repeated crash patterns, and residents can also monitor area conditions through Houston TranStar.

• Overhead Mast-Arm Signals: Signals mounted on arms directly above traffic lanes are harder for drivers to miss at speed compared to signals mounted on poles at the side of the road, and their absence can meaningfully raise the rate of red-light violations.
• Signal Timing Near Ramps: Coordination between surface-street signal timing and freeway ramp access points can help reduce the conflict between drivers merging onto a highway and cross traffic still governed by a signal.
• Formal Complaint Channels: When residents can’t reach 311 online, calling 311 directly or contacting their city council district office are alternative routes to getting a road safety concern officially logged, which matters because agencies often track complaint counts when prioritizing repairs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Exactly Is This Intersection in Houston

McGowen Street and Chartres Street intersect in EaDo, the East Downtown neighborhood just east of downtown Houston’s central business district. The intersection sits close to an entrance ramp for I-69 North, one of the primary freeways connecting downtown Houston to the northeast part of the metro area.

What Is the City Doing About the Crashes

As of FOX 26’s July 1 report, Houston Public Works had received two formal complaints about the intersection and previously sent crews in May to address a misaligned signal. District D Council Member Dr. Carolyn Evans-Shabazz’s office said it will add the intersection to ongoing traffic safety discussions with Public Works and HPD, though no specific physical changes had been announced at the time of the report.

How Can Residents Report a Dangerous Intersection to the City

Houston residents can file road safety complaints through the city’s 311 service by phone or online, though the resident in this case reported difficulty submitting a report through the online portal. Contacting a city council district office directly, as this couple eventually did by reaching out through media, is another avenue that can prompt a formal response from city departments.