Why Road Construction in Texas Feels Slower Than a Sloth Crossing I-20

If patience is a virtue, Texans should all be saints by now, because waiting on road construction out here feels like waiting for your brisket to smoke without ever adding wood. It’s eternal.

Construction In Texas Is Everywhere

Everywhere you look in Texas, it’s orange cones, blinking arrows, and a half-finished stretch of asphalt that seems to have been under “improvements” since the Bush administration. And don’t even try to complain, because by the time you finish, you’ll still be staring at the same backhoe that hasn’t moved since last summer, unless it’s on site to build another Dollar General.

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Why Road Construction in Texas Moves Slower Than a Sunday Drive

Here’s the thing: Texas is big, roads are long, and traffic is heavier than a Buc-ee’s snack haul. But good grief, it shouldn’t take longer to widen a highway than it does for your kid to graduate high school. Yet here we are, swerving around cones like it’s Mario Kart, only without the fun part.

In fact, here are some things that are much faster than the road construction in Texas.

Quick note: this is all in good fun. We’re poking fun at the pace of Texas road construction, not the hardworking men and women out there in the heat and dust, actually doing the job. Those crews bust it every day. We’re just here to laugh while we wait in traffic.

Current Road Construction In Texas

Want to track where all the orange chaos is happening? The Texas Department of Transportation has a handy map of every ongoing project across the Lone Star State. You can check it out here. Spoiler alert, it's a lot.

READ MORE: The Most Affordable Places To Live In Texas

So buckle up, Texas. We may not know when construction will end, but at least we know one thing: plenty of stuff moves faster than a road crew on I-20.