Texas toll road 130 is expected to get much bigger, which is good news for travelers who frequently use I-35.
The Texas Department of Transportation has hired engineers to design an expansion from four to six lanes between Texas 130 intersection with Texas 71 near the airport and Pflugerville’s I-45 North intersection. The estimated cost for this project is $195 million for the design and construction that will stretch for over twenty miles.
The new lanes are expected to open to the public in the summer of 2020, although the lanes north of 290 could be open sooner.
The Texas Department of Transportation will fund this project, thanks to the toll increase in 2016, which brought in over $170 million in tolls.
“The good news is we have enough money in the reserve” for the lane expansions, said Lorena Echeverria de Misi, director of transportation planning and development for TxDOT’s Austin division. “The bad news is that it will take up all that is in the reserve. But it’s more good news than bad.”
The highway is known for not being very busy, although an average of 75,000 cars per day show up around Pecan Street.
“We’re trying to get this completed before we start tearing up that part of I-35 so that people coming through will have a way to get around Austin,” Echeverria de Misi said. “That’s what is driving how quickly we’re trying to get 130 built.”
