The freeway wayback machine

Houstonist doesn't travel the Katy Freeway regularly, so every time we head out west, we're amazed at what's happening with the freeway expansion project. It seems lanes are always moving, ramps appear overnight and mind-exploding amounts of concrete are constantly being poured. Though the monster freeway under construction scares us a little bit, we're also fascinated by the way it's being put togther.

All of which is a rather long intro to one of our favorite ways to pass time when we should be doing something productive: the Houston section of TexasFreeway.com, which has all you'd ever want to know about the city's freeway system, from pre-freeway road maps and schematics to information on the most recent expansion projects (including the paving of the west side). Especially fun is the gallery of historic photos, where you can see the actual beginning of the Gulf Freeway and what the Southwest Freeway looked like when it was just a six-lane baby. It's sort of like looking back into a freeway black hole ... yes, all right, go ahead and insert a traffic joke here.

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Photo of I-45 construction downtown in 1961 from TexasFreeway.com