Routes from IAH Bush & Hobby airport to Galveston crusie terminals

[soundman10f]

I have seen many posts over the years asking for info getting to the Galveston cruise terminals, mostly from the Airports, and as someone who lives in the Houston area & drives to Galveston several times a year & often to a friend's house that is halfway to Galveston I try to help with the knowledge I have of traffic & construction info. So I thought I would create a post with the info I know to help others. I don’t claim to know everything or every possible route but I hope what I do share can help others coming to cruise out of Galveston.

 

First of all the only viable route onto Galveston island for a cruise is Interstate 45, unless you're driving in from Louisiana or southwest Texas. There is a different route option for each of those directions but for now I will just focus on coming from the 2 Houston Airports which for the most part will also help most people driving in from anywhere north of Houston. 

 

Heading from IAH (Bush airport) the best route is to take interstate 69 (aka state highway 59) to downtown Houston to interstate 45 then take I-45 all the way onto the island.  There are also many alternate routes which I will list next.

 

1. As you can see on the map below there are 2 other routes to get around downtown and any traffic or construction there might be the day you cruise. Those routes are Beltway 8 and are toll roads most of the way. The east side of beltway 8 is faster and less congested than the west side, as the west side will take a ways out of the way. 

2. Also you could take a route from IAH to the west onto the Hardy toll road which will take you to I-610 loop which you can take to the east and get to I-69 or continue around the loop to I-45 south. You could also take I-610 west to I-45 then head south. 

3. Another route you could take is to  travel south from the airport and take Beltway 8 to the west to I-45 then head south. This part of Beltway 8 is not tolled and free to drive on.

4. Lastly in the 2nd map below is a last ditch effort route. It is possible to head from the airport to either Beltway 8 or I-69 south then Beltway 8 around to state highway 225, and then to state highway 146 which merges with I-45 just before the Galveston causeway. This route would be the slowest of all of them and has an area that is under construction for the next year or more, but if I-45 south has a major backup on it, this route could get you by it. There are some tolls along the Beltway 8 portion and when you get to the part of state highway 146 that is under construction it has stop lights on it from there till it merges with I-45. I will include a map of where the construction is on state highway 146 at the bottom of the post.

 

 

Next I will cover from Hobby airport along with alternatives for construction on I-45 south. The best route is to head east from the airport and get on I-45 south which will take you all the way onto Galveston island. The big note on this route is I-45 south has been under construction for years & years, and has years of planned construction to go. Here is a map of current & future areas of construction. At the very top of the area under construction I-45 goes from about 5 lanes down to 3 lanes and because of the construction sometimes less than 3 lanes (yesterday 7/23/22 it was down to 1 lane and had about a 30-40 minute delay that I had to get around and is the reason I decided to make this post).

 

 

1. The first alternative & maybe fastest one is state highway 3 (aka old Galveston road). The catch is it is not a normal elevated highway, is usually a busy road, has many stop lights and the speed limit for most of it is 45 MPH or less. The big advantage of it is it is close to I-45. If I-45 has a major backup you can hop off and head east to highway 3 and take it south all the way till it merges with 146 & I-45 right before the Galveston causeway or just get around the traffic jam then head back over to I-45.

 

 

2. A little bit of an out of the way route is to head west from the airport and get on state highway 35 and take it to state highway 6, which then merges with I-45 just before the Galveston causeway. Just like state highway 3, state highway 6 is not elevated and has stop lights on it but is not usually as busy as state highway 3 and should have less stop lights. It is more of a rural route with less gas stations & stores to stop at but there are some.

 

 

3. There is one last ditch route to list, almost the same one I listed for IAH, but I did not make a map for it as it is way out of the way. But if all other routes are bad this could save you. You can take I-45 south from the Airport to Beltway 8 east, take that to state highway 225 east, then state highway 146 south which eventually merges with I-45 just before the Galveston causeway. This is a long out of the way route that is not worth it unless I-45 & both state highways 3 & 6 are both jammed. It has tolls on it, 146 is under construction and the last half of 146 is not elevated and has stop lights on it. Again this is a last ditch effort route if everything else is backed up.

 

The last thing to note is there are several routes to the cruise terminals once you get on to Galveston.

 

1. The main route which most people take as it has signs leading to the terminals is to exit I-45 just after crossing over the Galveston causeway at Harborside drive and taking it all the way to the terminals.

2. You can stay on I-45 which turns into Broadway street and turn down one of the many side streets that head towards Harborside drive. The 2 shown on the map below are 51st street or 33rd. Even better options are to go to 22nd St/Kempner St which dead ends into the current entrance to terminals 1 & 2, or go past all the way to 19th street or 14th street and cut over to Harborside drive and back up to the terminals.

 

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Some major notes about the Galveston Cruise terminals are as follows; currently there are 2 of them with a new 3rd terminal being built for Royal Caribbean which should open at the end of Oct or beginning of Nov 2022 if construction stays on track. This terminal will be for Royal ships only & all other lines will use terminals 1 & 2. The city & port are also working on the streets around all the terminals to make it easier and faster to get to them, which means the fastest routes on the island might change in the next few years. Finally, there are 2 more images below which show the cruise terminal locations along with a satellite map which shows the location of a possible 4th terminal which is currently being considered. No news which cruise lines would use this 4th terminal but I would bet that Carnival ships would be the main users of it.

 

 

Here is the above mentioned map of state highway 146 where the current construction is taking place.

 

 

This is not an exhaustive list but the best and fastest routes I know. I welcome any tips or secret routes anyone else might like to add. Thank you for your time and I hope this helps someone.

[ssb]

The “new” public entrance to terminals # 1&2 on Harborside is actually 23rd street not 22nd street anymore . 
 

Definitely come in 45 and stay straight on to Broadway all way to 23rd , turn left and straight to entrance by crossing Harborside , not ever getting on Harborside. 

[Kevin308]

If 45 is backed up from Intercontinental and you really don't want to pay a toll on a toll road you can get around it.  A little slower but it is very workable. 

 

[Kevin308]

Also on the Highway 6 route shown.  if you take that route do not speed through Hitchock at all and do not forget to use a blinker.  They will ticket you for any infraction they can get you for in that town.

Edited July 25, 2022 by Kevin308

[Kevin308]

This route would work as well

Edited July 25, 2022 by Kevin308