Highway 130 - Seguin to Austin, what is the point? (Dallas: live in, costs)

[steveklein]

So I'm trying to figure out why Highway 130 (on Google Maps; the 85mph expressway that connect Seguin, TX, to Austin, TX) was built.

The way I understood it, it was because of a lot of traffic on interstate 35 between Austin and San Antonio so a nice toll road with a very high speed limit was built.

But unless I just don't understand traffic flow patterns, I can't figure out who is actually using it. It seems to me that anyone coming from San Antonio and going to Austin would still take 35 because driving east to Seguin and then north would add so many miles to the trip it wouldn't be worth it. I suppose it is great if you live in Seguin or Lockhart... but other than that, what was the point? Are these two metro areas expected to more or less merge and this is just getting ahead of the curve? Seems like if that were the case, the project could have waited another couple of decades, no?

My interest was piqued after seeing this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqzd...9CE3B2ED0FFBAD which doesn't really answer my questions...

[HappyTexan]

It was supposed to be a bypass for 18 wheelers that clog up I-35.
But..too expensive and too far east so the 18 wheelers stayed on I-35.

[wpme]

130 goes from Sequin to north of Georgetown, it may be longer in distance than I-35, but I GUARANTEE its quicker. When is the last time you drove thru Austin on I-35, on a weekday between 3pm and 6pm, its a parking lot. I've seen I-35 at a dead standstill from Austin to San Marcos.

[JKAddict]

As a person who regularly travels from Dallas to Corpu, I can say 130 has helped me a lot. I used to hate driving through downtown Austin due to the immense traffic. Now I don't have to deal with that.

[steveklein]

i can see the part that bypasses austin as being beneficial but it seems pretty worthless for austin-san antonio traffic which i thought was the point.

[wpme]

Originally Posted by steveklein

i can see the part that bypasses austin as being beneficial but it seems pretty worthless for austin-san antonio traffic which i thought was the point.

The point was never the austin-san antonio traffic, it was for the traffic that wants to by-pass austin and its congestion.

[Slowpoke_TX]

Eventually, it will connect to I-35 somewhere south of San Antonio.

[HappyTexan]

Originally Posted by Slowpoke_TX

Eventually, it will connect to I-35 somewhere south of San Antonio.

I already does via I-410.

[HappyTexan]

The OP asked why it was built.

Texas State Highway 130 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 (TxDOT) 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.

[Danbo1957]

Through trucks, and cars, not going to Austin need to use 130, that should be the emphasis because "that's why it was built".