Drivers to Bayport Terminal in Houston BEWARE!!

[rgmacm]

Trying again...

https://www.hctra.org/tollroads_map/?CSRT=16665710518975729784

https://www.hctra.org/tollroads_map/?CSRT=16665710518975729784

[WWCJR]

Several people have asked for the name of the road....took me a minute to find it, but it's the Sam Houston Northeast Tollway http://https://www.hctra.org/tollroads_map/

 

Our Hotel was in Baytown - When looking for a hotel, this seemed like an excellent location. The loop (THE DREADED TOLLWAY!!!) appeared to be a good route to get us away from Houston traffic during Friday rush hour. There was a mall and nice casual dining restaurants all around, and the hotels for the most part had good reviews.

It was about 15-20 min from the port and we would have time to drive there the next morning. It seemed like a perfect stop.

Of course had I seen this website (above) during the planning process I would have known it was EZ Tag ONLY...but I didn't. I just assumed it was a toll road and we would pay the toll and that would be the end of it.

 

So....hoping this info helps others coming after me...and I'm learning some valuable things here too about other ports... This will NEVER happen to me again Folks!!! :(

 

That stretch of the toll road has had free side roads for years. The traffic should move fairly good in that area and would save the hassle of the toll road without having to take 59 into IH-610 loop.

 

Just want to offer alternatives and help to future visitors to Houston. What happened to you should not happen to anyone.

[WWCJR]

Trying again...

https://www.hctra.org/tollroads_map/?CSRT=16665710518975729784

https://www.hctra.org/tollroads_map/?CSRT=16665710518975729784

 

As I stated in my post it does not work correctly with all computer but does with other. That statement is true for the links shown in your posting as well.

 

An alternate approach is to just Google HCTRA and click the Road Map link on their site. But this will most likely produce the same results. Good luck to you.

[lovevacadays]

That is crazy! It seems there is more than one issue when you cruise out of Houston.

 

 

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[rgmacm]

Thanks for all the info WWCJR! :):)

[WWCJR]

Thanks for all the info WWCJR! :):)

 

You are quite welcome. I really hate people visiting here and not having a good experience. I feel if I can do anything to help people have a better experience here then I need to step-up and help.

[trvlhorse]

If this was on the northeastern stretch of Beltway 8, you could have exited and drove along the feeder road next to the Beltway without a charge. No need to get lost on multiple city streets as the feeder runs the exact same route as the beltway, but you'll have to contend with traffic lights on it. Good to know for next time.

[Galveston Cruiser]

Oh...and the clincher?? After I was almost all the way through the process with this purchase, he told me that you have to buy this for each car you drive... If we WERE to decide to keep the EZ Tag for a future cruise (which won't be for a couple of years) then, if we drove another vehicle - or got a new car before then...our EZ Tag wouldn't be effective...we'd STILL get another 37.75 bill!!! (In OK...our Pike pass is linked to our NAME and applies to all vehicles we put on that acct. When we bought a new car, we just called them, gave them the 'new' info and we were set to go. I can drive the toll roads...my husband can drive the toll roads...our son can drive the toll roads...it's all covered on one acct.)

 

OK...rant over

 

Only partially true. The Easy Tag is registered with the vehicle; however, it can be transferred to another vehicle/owner or you can keep it and register the new vehicle on the tag.

If one has an Easy Tag, you can also register another vehicle for temporary use on the tollway. I do this all the time when I need our Excursion to go to the Woodlands instead of my convertible. I go on-line to HCTRA, add the vehicle, license plate and the dates I will use the toll road. I don't get the discounted rate, but I can use all the toll roads.

[TruckerDave]

Several people have asked for the name of the road....took me a minute to find it, but it's the Sam Houston Northeast Tollway http://https://www.hctra.org/tollroads_map/

 

Our Hotel was in Baytown - When looking for a hotel, this seemed like an excellent location. The loop (THE DREADED TOLLWAY!!!) appeared to be a good route to get us away from Houston traffic during Friday rush hour. There was a mall and nice casual dining restaurants all around, and the hotels for the most part had good reviews.

It was about 15-20 min from the port and we would have time to drive there the next morning. It seemed like a perfect stop.

Of course had I seen this website (above) during the planning process I would have known it was EZ Tag ONLY...but I didn't. I just assumed it was a toll road and we would pay the toll and that would be the end of it.

 

So....hoping this info helps others coming after me...and I'm learning some valuable things here too about other ports... This will NEVER happen to me again Folks!!! :(

 

 

The Sam Houston tollway does NOT go through Baytown. The company I work for has a terminal at I10 and the Beltway and you have to go another 10 miles east before you reach Baytown.

[TruckerDave]

I don't know why you took the tollway to begin with. There have been many posts on here of the best way to get to the port. I have personally posted routes on here a few times all without using toll roads. It's not a tourist tax or any thing like that. It is a toll road that is clearly marked. This is a you problem not a Houston problem. :roll eyes:

 

I know this won't be a popular response with those of you who don't live here, but there really is no need for a rant on this.

[TruckerDave]

So would I. We were on some toll roads going in to and out of Houston, but they all had toll booths on them, as well as EZPass. Had we known we would be encountering them we could have brought our transponder along!! Please, the name of the road?

 

 

EZPass is not used in Tx

[TruckerDave]

just a thought put in a claim with your credit card & I would contact the Texas Toll Company again & ask to speak to a supervisor or a manager to have the charge waived. Plus have them remove all charges for the EZ Tag. Good Luck. We can use our Illinois EZ pass all the way to the East Coast plus i believe in some other States. Explains where we can use it on the Webste plus in IL we get a discount for having the EZpass -instead of paying $1.50 we only pay 75cents. Plus there are signs posted on how to pay if unmanned locations right at the tollbooths.

 

 

EZPass is used in ME,NH,CT,NY,NJ,PA,OH,IN,IL,WV,DE,MD,VA (I have it for work, company picks up the tab thankfully. :D )

[Galveston Cruiser]

I don't know why you took the tollway to begin with. There have been many posts on here of the best way to get to the port. I have personally posted routes on here a few times all without using toll roads. It's not a tourist tax or any thing like that. It is a toll road that is clearly marked. This is a you problem not a Houston problem. :roll eyes:

 

I know this won't be a popular response with those of you who don't live here, but there really is no need for a rant on this.

 

Like Button!

We have driven in many states and countries with toll roads, which are well marked, and know the difference.

Just because a hotel is on the toll road, there are feeder streets which provide access, does not preclude you must drive on it.

[lady_cruiser]

Makes me glad that I live in Louisiana, the land of no toll roads. Only shady little towns with speed traps that has the town mayors serving as judge and jury when you get caught speeding :p. I'm waiting for 60 Minutes to pay us another visit.

Edited May 16, 2014 by lady_cruiser

[Rudyard]

You won't get reamed by me. The Harris County toll system is horrible. Anywhere else in the state, you will get billed only for what you use (unless it's changed in some areas). The reason they won't remove the fees is that it's an outside company that collects the money and if they waive the fees, they don't get paid.

 

Also, I can see where the OP made his mistake. He figured, as I'm sure a lot of people from out of town would, that the tollway would be manned with real people in real booths like it is in most places. What's a shame is that the other quadrants of the tollway are manned, it's just the most recent addition on the Northeast side that isn't.

 

Most of the original bridge tolls were meant to be temporary - until the bridges were paid for. Of course that didn't happen.

 

That's how the tollway here was sold to the voters.

[TruckerDave]

Makes me glad that I live in Louisiana, the land of no toll roads. Only shady little towns with speed traps that has the town mayors serving as judge and jury when you get caught speeding :p. I'm waiting for 60 Minutes to pay us another visit.

 

I can think of two toll bridges/roads in LA. The one going north out of NOLA across the lake and the one going down to Port Fourchon. :D

 

But your point is still valid.

[rgmacm]

I don't know why you took the tollway to begin with. There have been many posts on here of the best way to get to the port. I have personally posted routes on here a few times all without using toll roads. It's not a tourist tax or any thing like that. It is a toll road that is clearly marked. This is a you problem not a Houston problem. :roll eyes:

 

I know this won't be a popular response with those of you who don't live here, but there really is no need for a rant on this.

 

...and the 'reamers' arrived.....ha!

Just for clarification, this was not about 'getting to the port'; it was about 'getting to our hotel'. We arrived in Houston at 5 pm Friday....for a Sat. departure. Going to the port on Friday would have set us up for a VERY long and uncomfortable night. We opted for a hotel. ;)

Yes, there were other routes...we could have gone through the center of Houston....or taken the 'inner loop'....but taking into consideration the whole "5 pm on a Friday" thing...and knowing what cities can be like at that time, we thought the 'outer' loop would be a less congested choice. We knew it was a toll road, but thought the cost of a toll would be worth the price if it meant less congestion, less standstill, less of ALL things related to cities and rush hour on Fridays. (There IS something to be said for cruises that depart on Sundays..though that might make it hard for those who have to be home and back to work on Monday after their cruise???)

Now, had we known the cost of this route would be $37.75, we would have made a different decision..but we didn't know that ...we were expecting something UNDER $25.....

Yeah, as you so eloquently alluded to, quite a few of our assumptions were dumb....won't ever make that decision again... :)

Edited May 18, 2014 by rgmacm

[Stevesan]

Princess has scheduled Sunday as Bayport turn around day next season.

Less arrival stress for out of town folks.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Stevesan

[Shekim]

Several people have asked for the name of the road....took me a minute to find it, but it's the Sam Houston Northeast Tollway http://https://www.hctra.org/tollroads_map/

 

Our Hotel was in Baytown - When looking for a hotel, this seemed like an excellent location. The loop (THE DREADED TOLLWAY!!!) appeared to be a good route to get us away from Houston traffic during Friday rush hour. There was a mall and nice casual dining restaurants all around, and the hotels for the most part had good reviews.

It was about 15-20 min from the port and we would have time to drive there the next morning. It seemed like a perfect stop.

Of course had I seen this website (above) during the planning process I would have known it was EZ Tag ONLY...but I didn't. I just assumed it was a toll road and we would pay the toll and that would be the end of it.

 

So....hoping this info helps others coming after me...and I'm learning some valuable things here too about other ports... This will NEVER happen to me again Folks!!! :(

 

You stayed in Baytown? With the hundreds of hotels in this area you ended up in Baytown? Oh my...there are signs that say last free exit and EZ Tax only. The EZ Tax ONLY should have given it away.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Shekim

[Sheam7566]

We are in the early process of planning a cruise out of Galveston. The only reason we picked Galveston is my daughter is in grad school at Texas A&M and she and her husband can drive down from College Station. Now after reading this topic I'm kind of sorry we are doing this. I flew into Houston by myself last spring to look for housing for her. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown with all the Houston traffic and the way the highways were( I learned how to drive on country roads). This was one time I wished I had spent the extra money and flew into Austin.

Any advice on which airport is better to fly into and how to get to Galveston would be appreciated. We are flying into Houston the day before and want to stay in Galveston. There will be four of us flying in. This is a dream of my husband to take our daughter and son with their spouses on a cruise

 

Thanks so much

Sheila

 

 

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[Galveston Cruiser]

Houston is the 4th largest city in the U.S. So, yes, there will be traffic - lots of it. No different than any other major city.

 

Unless one is familiar with a city, all newcomers find highways confusing.

I felt the same way first time in Washington/Baltimore area:rolleyes:

 

Fly into Hobby Airport, south side of Houston.

Book transportation from airport to hotel in Galveston.

Book a hotel that has transportation to the cruise terminal.

 

The Tremont Hotel and Harbor House are downtown near the pier and the San Luis is on the Seawall - all nice hotels.

[Sheam7566]

I live north of the Baltimore/Washington area and do not drive in either city. One nice thing that I did like and was a life saver is how Texas prints the number of the highway on the road. Helped me out a lot.

Thanks for the tip. I didn't mean to be critical of Houston traffic, it just scared the begees out of me.

Sheila

 

 

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[gofeo]

There is about a 10 mile section of that toll road that does not have manned toll booths. It is just east of Highway 59. (Belt 8 from airport, then when you see 59 there is sign stating that road is not free) When you get there take frontage which is free. You will take the frontage road to Wallisville road and then get back on the toll road. The next booth will be manned and you will pay just before the ship channel bridge.

[Stevesan]

I live north of the Baltimore/Washington area and do not drive in either city. One nice thing that I did like and was a life saver is how Texas prints the number of the highway on the road. Helped me out a lot.

Thanks for the tip. I didn't mean to be critical of Houston traffic, it just scared the begees out of me.

Sheila

 

 

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And there's nothing wrong with that!!

I've lived in Houston for forty years and I'm critical of the traffic every day.:eek:

[Squeeze1]

Houston toll roads are not that bad....when coming up to toll booth stay in far right lane cash only...$1.50...proceed on...very easy to navigate.

 

Don't panic. I live in Houston only problem is when you do not get in CASH only lines....far right.