SH130 construction to Seguin may begin in '08

The Gazette-Enterprise

By David DeKunder
The Gazette-Enterprise

Published February 7, 2007

SEGUIN — Construction on the last legs of State Highway 130 will begin next year, a Texas Department of Transportation official said Tuesday.

TXDOT Area Engineer Frank Holzmann said the state is ready to go ahead with the construction of segments 5 and 6 of the 91-mile tollway that starts north of Georgetown at Interstate 35 and will end east of Seguin at the Union Pacific Railroad tracks at Interstate 10.

Holzmann briefed Guadalupe County commissioners on the progress of the project during their meeting.

“We anticipate construction starting on it around 2008 and construction being completed on both segments 5 and 6 by 2012,” said Holzmann, who is based out of the TxDOT San Antonio office.

The first two segments of SH 130 — which run from I-35 north of Georgetown to U.S. Highway 290 east of Austin — were opened in December of last year. Construction on segments 3 and 4, which run from U.S. 290 to U.S. Highway 183 southeast of Austin, are scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

Segments 5 and 6 will start at U.S. 183 and end at I-10 east of Seguin.

In June 2006, TxDOT agreed to finance the remaining 40 miles of SH 130 — segments 5 and 6 — by completing a $1.3 billion public-private partnership with Spanish-based Cintra Zachary.

Holzmann said the final details of the agreement with Cintra Zachary are being worked out.

“We anticipate probably having the agreement signed within the next couple of weeks,” Holzmann said.

Property owners will be notified about right-of-way acquisitions in the spring or summer of this year, Holzmann said.

Holzmann said landowners along the SH 130 right-of-way will be notified by mail or by phone.

County Judge Mike Wiggins said SH 130 “does not top the list as one of the most popular projects to come along.”

Wiggins said many people have family connections to the land that will be affected by SH 130 and that TxDOT officials need to be sensitive to that when they contact landowners.

A study released by TxDOT last year said that 47 residences, 18 businesses and one public facility — a water supply corporation plant — in segments 5 and 6 would be relocated or displaced by the construction of the tollway.

The tollway is being built as a way to take traffic and hazardous materials off of Interstate 35.