Motorists begin going 85 — or more — on Texas 130

A car is unofficially clocked going 91 mph Wednesday afternoon Oct. 24, 2012 on the southern extension of Texas 130 from Seguin to Austin on the toll road's opening day. The road has the highest speed limit--85 mph--of any road in the country.An Express-News staffer held the radar gun to clock the unofficial speed of the passing vehicles. less A car is unofficially clocked going 91 mph Wednesday afternoon Oct. 24, 2012 on the southern extension of Texas 130 from Seguin to Austin on the toll road's opening day. The road has the highest speed limit--85 ... more Photo: William Luther, San Antonio Express-News Photo: William Luther, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close Motorists begin going 85 — or more — on Texas 130 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

LOCKHART — The car rattled some, but it still took to the speed easily.

I was driving on the just-opened Texas 130 toll road extension Wednesday through an undeveloped swath of Central Texas. Green fields and pastures unrolled in front of me. I passed other vehicles but not many, as my speedometer quickly climbed to 85 mph.

No fear of cops here, I was following the letter of the law.

The Texas 130 extension, connecting south Austin to Interstate 10 in Seguin, is the state's first public-private toll road and the first road in the country with an 85-mph limit.

Those factors may have explained the mix of anticipation and celebration at the grand opening Wednesday morning, marked by the attendance of several high-ranking state officials, including Gov. Rick Perry.

“There are very few people that get up and say they love road construction,” Perry said, addressing hundreds who gathered on the toll road beneath a large white tent. “But I think everyone is happy when you open a road up.”

The extension connects to an existing toll road that ends near Georgetown. But that part of Texas 130 was built by the state. A private consortium, called the SH 130 Concession Co., built the extension.

The company will fund all maintenance on the road for 50 years, in exchange for toll revenue, which it will share with the state.

But tolls were rarely, if at all, mentioned during the morning's media event. Officials focused more on the benefits of pursuing public-private partnerships, job creation and relieving congestion on Interstate 35.

Then, a few hours later, drivers like me were speeding over the spot where the officials had stood.

Within seconds of reaching 85 mph, I hit another milestone without even trying.

90 mph. Just like that.

Speed demons

I didn't realize how fast 85 mph really is until I started passing everyone else on the road, or when I suddenly had to slow down. There's not much wiggle room when a car travels those speeds.

Many vehicles, including cars and larger trucks hauling trailers, stayed in the right lane and drove well below the speed limit. While I cruised at 85, only one car overtook mine: It was a Guadalupe County sheriff's deputy.

Department of Public Safety troopers can patrol the road, looking for speed violators, like any other state highway. That seems to suit local enforcement officers, who don't have the manpower. Besides, who can nab someone flying by at such high speeds?

“Well, that's gonna be pretty tough to run somebody down if you're at a standstill,” Caldwell County Sgt. Paul Cowan said. “Just to catch up with somebody doing 85, 95 — that'd be ridiculous.”

Even if they don't like tolls, people still are curious about 85 mph. It's an attention-grabbing piece of marketing.

For the next two weeks, drivers can test out the speeds for free. They won't be charged tolls until Nov. 11; rates that will be based on the size of their vehicle, method of payment and how far the vehicle travels.

A Lockhart pastor, who wouldn't give his name because, he said, he didn't want to make any enemies, described the two-week moratorium on tolls like a pretty woman or an illegal substance. Both lure you in. But a little taste of those high speeds, and you're hooked:

“It's gonna be like alcohol,” he said. Soon, you “can't put that bottle down.”

Locally, there's been more dissent over TxDOT's decision to lower the speed limit from 65 mph to 55 mph on the parts of U.S. 183 that parallel Texas 130. This stretch, now a frontage road for the toll corridor, will be the only direct, nontoll route to Austin for area drivers.

Lockhart and Caldwell County have both passed resolutions asking TxDOT to raise the speed back to 65 mph. A petition is circulating asking for the same, and also that TxDOT allow Caldwell County residents who commute to Travis County to pay a reduced toll rate.

It's a matter of convenience for people who choose not to use the toll road, but it's also a matter of safety, Caldwell County Precinct 1 Constable Victor “Smitty” Terrell said.

He worries about vehicles coming off the toll road at 85 mph, while motorists on the feeder roads are only driving 55 mph.

And don't get Terrell started on wild hogs in the area and the hazard they pose as they travel in packs. He looked at my car and predicted the worst.

“If a couple hundred pound hog went underneath that Honda Civic, and it went on the corner and hit you just right,” he said, “it'd flip you.”

It's unlikely this area, known mainly for its array of BBQ locales, will stay quite this rural forever. Many in Lockhart agree that the road will bring economic development over time, and they welcome it. Some already is in the works.

That development was hard to imagine driving from the northern end of the toll road south toward Seguin. The road had only been open a few hours, but buzzards in the sky seemed to outnumber the vehicles on the road.

But there's a benefit to driving 85 mph in sparse traffic. I traveled 38.2 miles in 26 minutes.

Then, it was back to I-10 and 75-mph speeds. For the first time, it seemed so crowded and slow.

vdavila@express-news.net