This weekend on I-10 west of town will be like the movie Convoy but with more traffic and fewer CB radios.

Other than your garden variety construction on area freeways, the last few weeks have been relatively quiet when it comes to construction. Quiet for Houston, anyway, which is in a near constant state of flux when it comes to traffic. And certainly this is the calm before the storm as projects involving the West Loop and the entirety of Interstate 45 from Beltway to Beltway ramp up.

But those of us who live closer to town sometimes forget about our neighbors just outside of it. We don't really think about freeways beyond the Beltways unless we have to drive that way on a road trip. Either way, this weekend brings a construction project that will make us all think twice about driving to San Antonio and our preferred route to Austin.

Beginning Friday at 9 p.m., Interstate 10 will be completely closed in both directions at FM-1489 in Brookshire, about 30 minutes west of downtown. It will remain closed until Monday morning at 5 a.m. All traffic will be diverted off the highway and onto the frontage road at 1489 and then back on the freeway thereafter.

In addition to I-10 being the main path to San Antonio and destinations west, it also is the fastest route to Austin when taking it to TX-71 through La Grange.

But, more critically, it is an interstate highway that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific and is a major thoroughfare for cross country transit, particularly for semis, which, we don't have to remind you, take a lot longer to move through traffic than your average vehicle.

What this boils down to is a goddamn mess in Brookshire this weekend and a good reason to stay off the highways or take 290 when going to Austin. Yes, we just recommended 290 for something other than thoughts and prayers. What is this world coming to?