HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Stop-and-go traffic has been the norm for Houstonians since the inception of Beltway 8.
Now the Harris County Toll Road Authority is in the midst of a big change in hopes of keeping traffic moving smoothly for years to come.
Many drivers have been left wondering what's next for the Sam Houston Tollway after seeing cones and barricades blocking lanes to empty tollbooths.
Now those same drivers are seeing signage change over the last few months.
Roxy Sibrian with HCTRA said it's all part of the county's first phase as they transition from a mixture of cash and electronic toll lanes to a fully electronic operation.
Except that transition won't be quick.
"The transition to all electronic is driven by safety," Sibrian said. "It's going to take multiple years for the engineers to evaluate the overall system."
Harris County officials said the transition is happening across the country. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated things when toll booths closed to limit close interactions between operators and drivers.
Those lanes stayed closed ever since, along with the lanes leading up to them. The traffic headache created by those closed lanes is because they're said to be unsafe for the high speeds used in EZ Tag lanes.
"The narrower lanes...will be closed for some time," Sibrian said. "They were intended for stop-and-go traffic."
HCTRA said it's not as simple as ripping out the booths and opening up more lanes.
"It's not just tolling equipment," Sibrian said. "It's not just removing the toll booths. It's looking at the entire system as to how we can add safety measures so that traffic keeps flowing freely."
So what does that mean for drivers? If you already have an EZ tag, you're good and nothing will change.
If you don't have one, you can just pay tolls directly to the HCTRA's website.
For those drivers who do neither, HCTRA will send you an invoice in the mail based on your car's registration.
The big question is, when will those lanes open up? Harris County officials said it hopes it can open some of them by summer 2023.