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According to this source and several others (like Sylvester Turner, the mayor of Houston), a section of I-10 in West Houston called the Katy Freeway is the widest highway on Earth. Its widest point is when it intersects Beltway 8 with a total of 26 lanes.

However, some other sources dispute that claim. According to this article, there are many highways with more lanes than the Katy. For instance, there's a highway in Beijing with 50 lanes at a tolling point. I forgot where I read this, but another website says that Canada also has a freeway wider than I-10.

Is the Katy Freeway the widest highway in the world or not?

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  • 2
    I don't know if you're gonna get a more definitive answer than what Politifact stated.
    – DenisS
    Jul 26, 2018 at 19:25
  • 4
    The question of whether that highway has 50 lanes has already been asked and answered. It’s only 50 lanes wide at the one toll place which is only for a small amount of highway. You can see this on the map in the highest voted answer there
    – Laurel
    Jul 27, 2018 at 0:31
  • What does Katy stand for ? Give up ? Missouri, Kansas and Texas RR.
    – blacksmith37
    Oct 13, 2021 at 17:27

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By my count, there are 27 lanes at US route 95 here at the infamous Springfield, Virginia, Mixing Bowl. A few hundred feet further south, if Augusta Drive where it acts as a frontage road is included, there are 28 lanes.

For Katy Freeway at beltway 8 there are 24 lanes, but where it intersects Gessner Road there are 26.

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  • @MichaelK The satellite photos are a google maps reference. No original research here, unless he was up on the satellite taking snapshots himself.
    – Ben Barden
    Jul 27, 2018 at 16:11
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    @MichaelK The consensus itself only says original research is mainly bad if it can't be verified without unreasonable effort, more or less. Dave's original research is quite straightforward to verify.
    – Kamil Drakari
    Jul 27, 2018 at 17:43
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    @KamilDrakari Ah, good point. I see what you mean. Comment withdrawn.
    – user32299
    Jul 27, 2018 at 17:44
  • @MichaelK The original research rule only prohibits "nontrivial" calculations or analyses. I quote from Sklivvz's comment: 'the general idea is "high-school level or lower" is trivial'. I hope this clears things up.
    – Laurel
    Jul 27, 2018 at 18:13

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