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Other San
Antonio Area Roads
State Highway 130 (Pickle
Parkway) |
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page
last updated December 26, 2022 |
 Prior
to 2012,
Interstate 35
was the only major highway linking the San
Antonio and Austin areas and, as a result, was becoming
increasingly congested. As early as 1986, local officials began
planning a parallel reliever highway for I-35, but the idea gained
little traction at the time, especially as I-35 was in the process of
being expanded. However, by the late '90s, with the tremendous
population growth
of both cities as well as increasing truck traffic resulting from NAFTA
regularly
clogging I-35, state and
local officials dusted-off the plan and christened it
SH 130. While development of the route continued as a
regional project, state
officials also proposed rolling most of the SH 130 corridor
into the
"TTC-35" route of the now-defunct Trans-Texas Corridor
project. When the TTC was abandoned in 2009, development of the 86 mile
SH 130 continued as a standalone regional project. Due to
limited funding, the project was developed as a toll project.
Northern segments
The first two segments of SH 130, from I-35 at Georgetown east
around Round Rock to
US 290 east of Austin, opened in late 2006. The third
segment,
from US 290 to SH 71 near Bergstrom Airport, opened
in mid
2007. The fourth segment, from SH 71 to US 183 near
Mustang Ridge south
of
Austin, opened in 2008. These projects are owned and operated by the
Central Texas Turnpike System, a subsidiary of the Texas Department of
Transportation (TxDOT.)
Southern segments
The remaining 41 mile section from Mustang Ridge to Lockhart and from
there to I-10 near Seguin, known as
segments 5 and 6, were built under a Comprehensive Development
Agreement between the state
and the SH 130 Concession Company LLC, a consortium of Spanish
infrastructure
company Cintra and San Antonio-based construction giant Zachary
American Infrastructure.
The agreement called for the consortium to build and maintain the
roadway for 50 years in exchange for keeping a portion of the tolls
collected. Construction began in April 2009 and opened to
traffic on October 24, 2012.
Unlike
the first four segments, segments 5 and 6 did not have any toll booths.
Instead,
all toll collections have been electronic since opening, one of the
first
tollways in the nation to do so. Segments 1-4 have since also gone to
all-electronic tolling.
Freight rail bypass
There has also been discussion about including a future freight
railroad bypass in the
SH 130 corridor. Freight train traffic, like its counterpart
truck traffic, has also increased substantially in the
region, and the existing railways go right through the center of the
cities in the I-35 corridor, causing recurring congestion problems. A
railway bypass along SH 130 would help reduce congestion in
the cities on the corridor and would also free the existing
rail line for a long-planned San Antonio-Austin commuter rail
line.
 Speed limits
In early 2012, TxDOT approved increasing the speed limit on the
original segments of
SH130 east of Austin to 80 mph. In September 2012, approval was given
for an 85 mph speed limit for Segments 5 and 6. This is the
highest speed limit in the United States.
Usage
Although I-35 between San Antonio and Austin and is
the busiest inter-metro Interstate in Texas and suffers from chronic
congestion, SH 130 is
underutilized. The toll rates, combined with the 40 mile
distance from I-35 in San Antonio to SH 130 at Seguin, are
often cited as the reasons for the low usage of SH 130 between
Seguin and
Austin. (In reality, a trip from south San Antonio to Georgetown using
SH 130
only adds a little less than 20 miles to the total mileage.)
However, traffic counts along the southern portion in 2021
were notably higher than before the pandemic, and the traffic volumes
on the four segments east of Austin are generally healthy at 30,000 to
50,000 in
2021.
Bankruptcy
The low traffic counts and revenue led the
company operating Segments 5 and 6 to file for bankruptcy protection in
2016. It emerged from bankruptcy in 2017 after a restructuring that
allowed it to shed over $1 billion in debt and attract $260 million in
new financing under a new ownership group.
 SH 130 designation
extension
To help provide a more cohesive bypass route to drivers, the
Texas Transportation Commission in 2011 approved extending the
SH 130
designation from the southern terminus of the SH 130
toll road near Seguin westward along I-10 to Loop 410, then
south and west along Loop 410 to I-35 South, thus allowing
drivers to
follow a single-numbered route. (The SH 130 segments along
I-10 and Loop 410
remain non-tolled.) Signage was installed in 2013 along
with additional signs at strategic locations in San Antonio and Austin
promoting SH 130 as an alternate route to Austin and Waco or San
Antonio.
Travel time comparison signs
Electronic signs showing travel time comparisons for I-35 and SH 130
are in operation on I-35 southbound approaching the SH 130 interchange
north of Georgetown as well as on I-35 approaching the SH 45
interchanges north and south of Austin. Additionally, a travel
time comparison sign was installed on northbound I-35 south of San Antonio in 2022 showing
travel times to Georgetown via I-35 and SH 130. Pickle
Parkway
The route is named after former US Representative J.J. Pickle who
served the Austin
area from 1963 to 1995 and was instrumental in obtaining funding for
planning studies for SH 130.
Travel time comparison sign on I-35 northbound south of San Antonio
The splotchy
color is due to the digital refresh rate of the sign conflicting with that of
the camera.
(Photo
by Brian Purcell)
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