State Highway 130 (SH 130), also known as the Pickle Parkway, is a

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and

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...

in the U.S. state of Texas. It runs parallel to

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican bo ...

(I-35) in

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along I-410 and

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the originall ...

to east of Seguin, then north as a toll road from there to I-35 north of Georgetown. SH 130 runs in a corridor east and south of

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. The route parallels I-35 and is intended to relieve the Interstate's traffic volume through the San Antonio–Austin corridor by serving as an alternate route. The highway was developed in response to the tremendous surge in truck traffic on the I-35 corridor brought on by the

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during the late 1990s, especially truck traffic originating from Laredo, where the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a Texas state government agency responsible for construction and maintenance of the state's immense Texas state highway system, state highway system and the support of the state's maritime trans ...

(TxDOT) reported 150 trucks entering the United States every hour. A proponent of the highway's development, Capital Area Transportation Coalition, said that congestion along the I-35 corridor is costing businesses more than $194 million a year in higher operating costs and lost productivity. The section of the toll road between SH 45 and I-10 has a posted speed limit of , the highest posted speed limit in the Americas. As of December 2014, the only speed limits in the world higher than this are the limits of

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and

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, and the

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’ 160 km/h (100 mph) limit, as well as

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and the

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, which have roads without any posted maximum limit.

Route description

SH 130 begins while running concurrently with I-410 at an interchange with

I-35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexico–Uni ...

in southwestern

. SH 130 follows I-410 until an interchange with

US 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. It generally travels near Int ...

just east of

Downtown San Antonio Downtown San Antonio is the central business district of San Antonio, Texas, and the urban core of Greater San Antonio, a metropolitan area with nearly 2.5 million people. Downtown San Antonio is encircled by Texas State Highway Loop 1604, 16 ...

, and then follows those two highways to Seguin. SH 130 leaves I-10 in eastern Seguin, running north as a tollway. Near Lockhart, the tollway begins an overlap with

US 183 U.S. Route 183 (US 183) is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Presho, South Dakota, at an intersection with Interstate 90. Its southern terminus is in Refugio, Texas, at the southern intersectio ...

; US 183 runs along the frontage roads. In the small community of Mustang Ridge, US 183 leaves the frontage roads and an overlap with SH 45 begins. The two highways run in a northeast direction passing through rural areas of Travis County. The tollway passes near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at the interchange with SH 71 and runs in extreme east

. The tollway curves around Lake Walter E. Long after the interchange with the Manor Expressway near Manor. In the city of Pflugerville, there is slight development along the route near Farm to Market Road 685 (FM 685). SH 45 leaves the tollway in Pflugerville, and SH 130 runs through rural areas of Williamson County. SH 130 runs in a slight northwest direction before ending at I-35 in northern Georgetown.

History

Previous route

The SH 130 designation was previously used for a highway in far west Texas, between the city of

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

and SH 54 in

, Hudspeth, and Culberson counties. That route was designated on January 18, 1928. In 1932, the route was co-designated as a portion of

US 62 U.S. Route 62 or U.S. Highway 62 (US 62) is an east–west United States Highway in the southern and northeastern United States. It runs from the Mexican border at El Paso, Texas, to Niagara Falls, New York, near the Canadian bo ...

. On January 21, 1936, SH 130 was extended east to the

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state line, replacing a portion of SH 54. The SH 130 designation was dropped as part of the general redescription of the state highway system on September 26, 1939. Since September 6, 1943, the previous route has also been designated as a portion of US 180 along with US 62.

Current route

85 miles per hour speed limit on Texas highway 130

SH 130 was designated on May 22, 1985, along with SH 45, as a route from I-35 to US 183 south of Austin. On January 30, 1989, SH 297 was designated from US 183 in Mendoza to I-10 in Seguin. On December 8, 1993, SH 297 became part of SH 130. On October 27, 1994, the SH 130 sections were connected with part of the SH 130 tollway along US 183 added to the plans. In June 2002, Lone Star Infrastructure, a consortium of major highway construction contractors and civil engineering firms, was awarded a Comprehensive Development Agreement by TxDOT to design and build the section from I-35 in Georgetown to US 183 southeast of Austin. The cost of this section was expected to be $1.5 billion, which included the costs of utility relocation, design, construction, and

right-of-way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...

. Right-of-way costs alone were estimated at $389 million. Groundbreaking for SH 130 took place on October 3, 2003. The first segment to open to the public was from US 290 northbound to US 79 on November 1, 2006. On December 13, the highway was extended northward to a junction with

. On September 6, 2007, the route was extended southward from US 290 to SH 71. Segment 4 opened on April 30, 2008, running from SH 71 to US 183. On June 28, 2006, a partnership between

Cintra Cintra, S.A. (Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, translated as Toll Transport Infrastructures) is one of the largest private developers of transport infrastructure in the world. Its assets are fundamentally toll roads and car parks, ...

and Zachry American Infrastructure, developers of the

Trans-Texas Corridor The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) was a proposal for a transportation network in the U.S. State of Texas that was conceived to be composed of a new kind of transportation modality known as supercorridors. The TTC was initially proposed in 2001 and ...

, reached a $1.3 billion agreement with the state to build segments 5 and 6 from US 183 southeast of Austin to I-10 in Seguin. Cintra-Zachry formed SH 130 Concession Company to manage the project. In exchange for the investment, the company received the right to collect tolls for 50 years in a revenue-sharing agreement with the state. The state owns the road while the company is responsible for financing, design, construction, operation, and maintenance over the life of the agreement. Although substantially a

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project, some costs for segments 5 and 6 were borne by TxDOT, including about 400 highway signs promoting SH 130 as an alternate route and a subsidized toll rate for truckers to use the highway instead of I-35. In 2013,

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downgraded the company's debt to junk status due to low traffic revenues, raising the possibility that TxDOT might terminate its toll contract with the group. The company explored debt restructuring around December 2013, and was in danger of a payment default in June 2014, eventually filing for bankruptcy in March 2016. The Concession Company eventually exited bankruptcy in 2017 with a new owner in the form of investment firm Strategic Value Partners, who bought out Cintra's stake in the joint venture. The 2007 session of the Texas Legislature passed HB 2296, designating SH 130 in Williamson,

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, and Guadalupe counties as the "Pickle Parkway" in honor of former United States Congressman J.J. "Jake" Pickle. Construction began in early 2009 on the final sections of SH 130, from Lockhart through Caldwell and Guadalupe counties to I-10, which opened on October 24, 2012. On the first evening the roadway was open, three cars crashed into packs of wild hogs. US 183 runs parallel to SH 130 from southeast of Austin to Lockhart. TxDOT announced on September 29, 2011, that the SH 130 designation had been extended westward, along I-10 to I-410, then southward and westward along I-410 to I-35 in southern San Antonio. On March 2, 2016, the SH 130 Concession Company, who operates the toll road between Seguin and Mustang Ridge, filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

. The concession's CEO, Alfonso Orol, stated that the highway will continue to operate during the bankruptcy proceedings.

Proposal for toll removal

In 2013, House Bill 3682 was filed by state Representative Paul Workman with the goal of removing the tolls on SH 130 and re-designating the highway as an Interstate. The cost was estimated at $3 billion. $1.5 billion would come from the state's rainy day fund, with an equal amount being funded from federal sources.

Exit list

References

External links

State Highway 130 Concession Company, LLC
developers of SH 130 segments 5 and 6.

(BicycleAustin.info) {{Toll Roads in Texas 1985 establishments in Texas Freeways in Texas Interstate 35

130 130 may refer to: *130 (number), the natural number following 129 and preceding 131 *AD 130, a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar *130 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar *Kin Sang stop, MTR digital station code *130 Ele ...

Transportation in Bexar County, Texas Transportation in Caldwell County, Texas Transportation in Guadalupe County, Texas Transportation in San Antonio Transportation in Travis County, Texas Transportation in Williamson County, Texas