Opinion

Texas’ seldom traveled toll road

Hardly anyone drives the southern section Texas 130, yet it’s pocked with persistent pavement problems. It’s supposed promise was the San Antonio-Austin region would benefit from a new section of highway at no up-front cost, private developers would profit from the operation of the road and the state would benefit from toll revenues. less Hardly anyone drives the southern section Texas 130, yet it’s pocked with persistent pavement problems. It’s supposed promise was the San Antonio-Austin region would benefit from a new section of highway at ... more Photo: Helen L. Montoya /SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Photo: Helen L. Montoya /SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Texas’ seldom traveled toll road 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The irony of Texas 130 is impossible to ignore.

In a fast-growing region in the heart of a fast-growing state that is desperate for more roads, the developers of the southern section of Texas 130 managed to build a toll road that few use. That is some engineering feat.

This 41-mile albatross that technically links San Antonio and Austin, if you are willing to drive out of your way to get there, is a monument to failure. Hardly anyone drives Texas 130, yet it’s pocked with persistent pavement problems. The road has likely contributed to flooding around the town of Lockhart. Its developers are walking away from roughly a half-billion federal loan, and another billion or so in private loans, and yet the same developers, through subsidiaries, benefited from construction contracts to build Texas 130.

All of this comes from former Express-News reporter Katherine Blunt’s recent deep dive into Texas 130’s woes. Blunt, now with our sister paper, the Houston Chronicle, told the story of poor planning and unrealistic expectations that ultimately burned the public.

It’s a complicated story weaving European banks, Australian investors and layers of subsidiaries, but this much is clear: Texas 130, with its 85 mph speed limit, was a product of wishful thinking. It’s supposed promise was the San Antonio-Austin region would benefit from a new section of highway at no upfront cost, private developers would profit from the operation of the road, and the state would benefit from toll revenues.

This was magical thinking when the hard analysis had already been done. SH 130 Concession Co., the joint venture between Zachry Construction Co. and Cintra, a Spanish developer, has never released its traffic projections for the road. But the state had already studied the matter years ago, determining there wouldn’t be enough traffic on the southern section of Texas 130 to make construction of the toll road worthwhile.

Here’s how state Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, and chairman of the House Transportation Committee, put it: “They didn’t rely on any of the numbers that we put together.”

Texas 130 is 4 years old, but it has never remotely come close to meeting traffic expectations. The growth in traffic is not enough to pay back debt, Moody’s has reported. Toll revenues for the state are well below expectations.

The only benefits we can see from Texas 130 is that it was a source of lucrative construction and design contracts, and it was an asset for private Australian investment funds.

Where the saga of Texas 130 goes from here is unclear. How much is this road really worth? Will federal taxpayers be paid back? Will the flooding concerns in Lockhart be addressed? Who will pay to mitigate the flooding concerns? Will the road ever prove useful for drivers?

Perhaps these questions will be addressed during bankruptcy proceedings.