Texas State Highway 130

State Highway 130
Route information
Length:	37.4 mi (60.2 km)
Existed:	1985 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 183 / SH 45
	US 290 US 79
North end:	I-35
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate • US • TX (Loops – Spurs – Rec – FM) ← SH 128 SH 131 →

State Highway 130, also known as SH 130 and Pickle Parkway, is a tollway from Interstate 35 (I-35) in Georgetown to US 183 and SH 45 at Mustang Ridge in Central Texas. Portions south of Mustang Ridge are now under construction [As of 7/2010]. When completed, SH 130 will run in a 89-mile (143 km) corridor east and south of Austin, Texas. It 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 northern terminus of State Highway 130 is I-35 north of Georgetown. Its eventual southern terminus is Interstate 10 near Seguin.

The highway was developed in response to the tremendous surge in truck traffic on the I-35 corridor brought on by the North American Free Trade Agreement during the late 1990s, especially truck traffic originating from Laredo, where the Texas Department of Transportation 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.

State Highway 130 will initially be a four-lane highway, quickly expandable to six lanes.

History

Previous route

SH 130 was originally a road between the city of El Paso and SH 54 in El Paso, Hudspeth, and Culberson counties of far west Texas. That route was constructed sometime before 1933. In 1932, the route was co-designated as a portion of US 62. The SH 130 designation was dropped with the general re-description of the state highway system in 1939. Since 1943, the previous route has also been designated as a portion of US 180 along with US 62.

Current route

State Highway 130 northbound lanes in Pflugerville, May 2008.

In June 2002, Lone Star Infrastructure, a consortium of major highway construction contractors and civil engineering firms, was awarded a Comprehensive Development Agreement by the Texas Department of Transportation 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, a figure which includes utility relocation, right of way, design and construction. Right-of-way costs alone were estimated at $389 million.

Groundbreaking for SH 130 took place on October 3, 2003. The first segment of SH 130 to open to the public was from US 290 northward to US 79 on November 1, 2006. About a month later on December 13, the highway was extended northward to a junction with Interstate 35. On September 6, 2007, the route was extended southward from US 290 to State Highway 71. Segment 4 opened on April 30, 2008. This 8.7-mile (14.0 km) segment runs from SH 71 to US 183.

On June 28, 2006, Cintra-Zachry, the Trans-Texas Corridor developer, reached a $1.3 billion agreement with the state to build segments 5 and 6 from US 183 to I-10 in Seguin. In exchange for their investment, Cintra-Zachry will receive the right to collect tolls for 50 years in a revenue sharing agreement with the state. The state will own the road while the developer will be responsible for financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance over the life of the agreement. Construction has begun on the final segment, with completion expected in 2012. Most of Segment 5 will incorporate US 183 from the outskirts of Austin to Lockhart.

The 2007 session of the Texas Legislature passed HB 2296, designating SH 130 in Williamson, Travis, Caldwell and Guadalupe Counties as the "Pickle Parkway" in honor of former United States Congressman J.J. "Jake" Pickle.

Route description

SH 130 begins at I-35 north of Georgetown in Williamson County. The tollway heads south from the interchange with I-35 and bypasses to the east of the Georgetown city limits. It continues to the southeast to a junction with SH 29 and begins to take a more southerly course at the interchange with US 79. The tollway continues to the south and curves to the southwest as it approaches the interchange with SH 45. The tollway continues heading south, passing to the east of the Austin city limits. It reaches an interchange with US 290 west of Manor before heading curving to the southeast to pass around Walter E. Long Municipal Park. It turns back to the southwest once it has passed the park. It reaches its current southern terminus at US 183 in Mustang Ridge.

Construction has begun as of early 2009 on the final sections of SH 130 which will travel through the City of Lockhart and wind through Caldwell and Guadalupe Counties before meeting up with Interstate 10 east of Seguin.

TXDOT announced in September 2011 that the SH 130 designation will be extended westward, along I-10 to I-410, then southward and westward along I-410 to I-35 in southern San Antonio.

Exit list

County	Location	#	Destinations	Notes
Williamson	Georgetown		I-35 north / SH 195 north – Waco, Florence, Killeen	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		411	I-35 south – Austin	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		413	FM 971 – Granger	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		415	SH 29 – Georgetown
		417	CR 104
		419	Chandler Road
		421	CR 109	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Hutto	423	US 79 – Taylor, Round Rock
		425	FM 685 / Gattis School Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Travis		426	FM 685 north / Gattis School Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Pflugerville	428A	FM 685 south / Kelly Lane
		428B	SH 45 west – Round Rock	North end of SH 45 overlap
		429	Pfluger Lane	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		431	Pecan Street
		432	Cameron Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		435	Gregg Manor Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Austin	436	FM 734 (Parmer Lane)
		437	US 290 – Houston, Austin
		439	Blue Bluff Road	No northbound exit
		441	FM 973
		444	FM 969
		446	Harold Green Road
	Austin	449	SH 71 – Houston, Austin
		450	Pearce Lane
		451	Elroy Road
		453	FM 812
		455	Moore Road
	Mustang Ridge	457	Maha Loop
		458	US 183 / SH 45

External links

• Central Texas Turnpike - official page
• State Highway 130 Concession Company, LLC, developers of SH 130 segments 5 and 6.
• Anti-130 page (BicycleAustin.info)