Though freeways — especially elevated areas and bridges — are good vantage points to watch tonight’s fireworks, pulling over on shoulders is highly discouraged by police.
Usually Houston-area drivers lament sitting on freeways, but to the chagrin of officials, there’s just something about fireworks that makes the commonly clogged thoroughfares the place to be.
Though freeways — especially elevated areas and bridges — are good vantage points to watch the show, pulling over on shoulders is dangerous and highly discouraged by police and transportation officials.
“It is just not safe because the emergency shoulders are there for emergencies,” said Karen Othon, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Transportation in Houston. “I get it. I like fireworks; they’re fun. That is the draw of wanting to stop and pull over and watch them. It just isn’t safe.”
Though the Freedom Over Texas event in Houston is the largest in the area, officials said drivers staying put on the shoulders is common in many locales, including Katy along Interstate 10 and The Woodlands along Interstate 45.
In many spots in past years, motorists have complained of seeing children playing and running on the side of the road, while others awaited the show from the comfort of lawn chairs in the freeway median.
“It is just not safe because the emergency shoulders are there for emergencies. I get it. I like fireworks; they’re fun. That is the draw of wanting to stop and pull over and watch them. It just isn’t safe.” Karen Othon, TxDOT spokeswoman
“It’s foolish, especially with kids,” said Paul Shaivitz, 60, who said the occurrence is nothing new. Cars would park in the median of Texas 288 south of Loop 610 when the city’s big fireworks show was near the Astrodome in the 1980s, he said.
For police, people watching the festivities from freeways and bridges is an enforcement challenge.
“It is kind of like fighting a waterfall uphill,” said Lt. Carl Nunn of the Kemah Police Department.
Gawkers flock to the Texas 146 bridge to watch Kemah’s fireworks show, which annually leads to a traffic and safety problem, Nunn said, though there have been no major incidents.
The small department, he said, chooses its battles.
“If it is early before the fireworks, we move them on,” Nunn said, saying patrol officers often will drive onto the bridge and use the public address system on the cruiser to warn people to leave or be ticketed.
When the show starts, however, Nunn said police are busy preparing for the crush of traffic that will be leaving soon. There just isn’t time during the show to go herd folks off the bridge.
Houston police focus on public education, said spokesman Victor Senties, stressing that stopping on the side of a major road or freeway is not safe. If police receive a call related to the vehicle on the side of the road, they will go the scene to determine whether it is stalled or if someone simply parked. If the vehicle can be moved, Senties said, officers can order it moved, or else the driver could face a citation.
TxDOT officials will spread the word via 40 digital message signs along freeways, urging people not to stop on freeways and warning that they could be towed if they do. Police are also advising people to choose another vantage point.
“Drivers should use ... adjacent parking lots or other areas to watch the displays,” said Harris County Sheriff ’s Office spokesman Thomas Gilliland.