Even an 85-mph speed limit and a hyper-publicized opening didn’t draw enough traffic to pay the debt on Texas 130, a privately financed toll road northeast of San Antonio, forcing the operator to seek bankruptcy protection Wednesday.

SH 130 Concession Co., which built and operates the 41-mile stretch of Texas 130 between Seguin and Mustang Ridge, south of Austin, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Owned by San Antonio-based Zachry Corp. and Spanish road developer Cintra, SH 130 owes about $1.3 billion, not including interest, fees and other expenses, its filing states.

The four-lane toll road, opened in 2012, has the highest speed limit in the U.S. and was built to bypass the traffic that often clogs Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin. It connects to a northern stretch of the toll road that ends in Georgetown that was built by the Texas Department of Transportation.

But traffic south of Mustang Ridge has fallen far below the company’s projections, and Moody’s Investment Services assigned it a junk-bond rating two years ago as a result. Moody’s emphasized its negative outlook for the company in a July report that predicted its revenue would fall 70 percent below expectations in 2015.

More Information To read more about how much money the concession company owes and why it filed for bankruptcy, see one of its filings here.

Read More

Alfonso Orol, SH 130’s CEO, said the company will continue to operate its section of the highway while it tries to strike a deal with lenders and emerge from bankruptcy.

“At this point, it’s difficult to forecast how long this is going to take or what the outcome is going to be,” he said. “We know for sure we will continue to negotiate with lenders in the coming weeks.”

The company has earned more money each year since 2012, mirroring a slow-but-steady increase in annual traffic. Last year, the company counted about 6.9 million toll transactions, about 15 percent more than 2014.

But it has teetered on the brink of default several times, and in 2014, began refinancing its debt.

“We are talking about a complex financial process with a lot of parties involved in the discussion,” Orol said. “During the conversations with our lenders, we agreed on several (deadline extensions) that gave us additional time to negotiate.”

TxDOT planned Texas 130 to relieve congestion between San Antonio and Austin on Interstate 35, a highway that often comes to a standstill during rush hour. The department completed its part of the toll road by 2006, but it didn’t have enough money to build south of Mustang Ridge.

The concession company, in collaboration with TxDOT, created the first public-private toll road in the state, spending $1.35 billion to build the remainder of the road. TxDOT did not fund the project, but as part of a 50-year deal, the company has paid the department about $143 million since 2012.

“The filing will have no financial impact on the state of Texas,” Orol said. “It’s business as usual for our customers, employees, vendors, and surrounding communities during these proceedings.”

If the company goes bankrupt, TxDOT could terminate its agreement with the company. But Orol said he doesn’t expect that to happen at this point.

Despite its speed limit and congestion-free lanes, the highway has proved less than convenient for drivers traveling between San Antonio and Austin because it starts at Interstate 10 east of Seguin. Slicing through rural Central Texas east of I-35, it also bypasses New Braunfels and San Marcos, adding 10 to 15 miles to the trip.

TxDOT and the company have collaborated to incentivize use of the southern half of the toll road. The department agreed to place nearly 400 signs along I-35 corridor promoting it as an alternative route, and in 2013, it discounted tolls for trucks.

kblunt@express-news.net

Twitter: @katherineblunt