Funny thing, back in 2006 when 80 mph was first introduced on I-10/I-20, a concerned fellow said "What's next? 85? They'll keep going!" And look what happened...
I just got around to finally watching this. Pretty cool to see an 85 MPH limit in the United States, if it it's only for some 41 miles. I rarely get political on RU-vid, but do you honestly think this roadway is going to be a success? Several other toll road facilities around the US have had to declare bankruptcy, due to low usage. From watching this video, traffic looks almost non-existent at times?
I've heard recently the road has been facing some financial trouble, despite the speed limit and thinner traffic. Heck, make it a tourist attraction.. do away with the speed limit and make it the only experimental open speed zone in the country. It worked for Montana for a while, before the insurance lobby got ahold of it.
Texas has the coolest freeways/tollways in America. They have the best freeway designs.I love the freeway/frontage road concept. Besides that stretch of SR 130 seems to be very brand new having been opened in 2012(or late 2011)
I had the pleasure of driving on this highway last week. It was a great experience and i plan to do it again the next time I am traveling back to San Antonio. It's well worth the tools.
@@cubby091398 Yeah, but insurance companies (with politician hands in their pockets) and people screaming about "tHe ChILdReN!!" wouldn't appreciate that.
In November, it will be my first time driving on SH-130. (Visiting Texas from Kansas) Can anyone tell me how strictly the 85 MPH limit is enforced? Where I live, drivers can go up to 10 MPH over the limit and not get pulled over on major highways. This highway looks absolutely beautiful, especially with the massive interchange at SH-45.
Great footage and song choice. I've driven the entire 83-mile stretch and doing 85 mph is totally worth the toll, the reduced mpg and wear and tear to my car. Note: Once you reach the junction of Hwy 45 and 130, the speed limit drops to 80mph and remains that way until you reach I-35 in Georgetown. It is 85mph for the first 50 miles (from the south end of TX130) then is lowered to 80mph for the remaining 43 miles. I absolutely love driving on TX 130, and I can't describe the freedom I feel when I drive on the "Texas Autobahn."
+Kansan Gho5t I have yet to see a police car checking radar, and I've driven on SH130 over 10 times. I would say as long as you keep it under 100, you will be fine.
Definitely a great stretch of road for 85 MPH! Obviously with time-lapsed video, it isn't too obvious that you're going 85, but the experience itself would probably say so. Definitely something I will check out in the future!
My question is this will the toll that I pay pay for round trip or is it just one way? I haven't used a toll road yet. I am thinking about it though. I wish they'd build a toll road from Laredo to Brownsville & South Padre Island. I've been down that way before more than once & your always having to go through a bunch of traffic lights before finally getting to the freeway in Mission. Very slow indeed!
Look at the interchanges in Houston, Texas. They are even higher than the one in this video. Truly a rollercoaster. I went on one on Beltway 8 (Houston's outer toll loop) and I could see downtown Houston from there.
Yeah I like the freeway frontage roads in texas... they all have a dedicated left turn lane that spits you right back onto the freeway if you need to get back on or do a uturn. Makes you feel like you wont miss your exit and have to drive 5 miles to turn around
Have traveled this route countless times....it's a rush. SLOWER DRIVERS PLEASE STICK TO THE RIGHT LANE! and caution with Deer and Hogs at night, God forbid you smack on, hold on tight and brace yourself. No complaints, just a part of life given that we built a road in the middle of their home.
The toll road had another purpose, and that was to reduce truck traffic in downtown Austin. This failed because most truckers are poor and companies won't pay for toll roads that can be avoided. Great video as always.
Great video and this puts NJ, DE, and PA turnpikes along with the NY thruway, JFK memorial highway (I-95, 76, 276, 476, DE-1, I-90, 87 & I-287) and the Garden state parkway because these toll roads have 65mph maximum speed limits. For the toll method txtag might be replaced by EZ-Pass because Texas will join the EZ-Pass group by mid-2013 this will allow drivers in NJ, NY, PA, MA, NH, RI, DE, and MD to try TX-130 for the 80-85 mph speed limit.
haha cool video, sometimes I go out here and do 120-130 the whole way, it’s privately maintained and in the middle of farmland so police don’t really seem to be out there or care
Wow. That road is really empty. It’s way too expensive to take 130 so no one uses it and I-35 continues to take on all the traffic. 130 is a much prettier drive, but the toll cost is outrageous and you save no time at all. Great video, though. Thanks
People are complaining about the tolls but not the $20 you'll spend on gas driving the whole thing at 85 mph. At those speeds you'll get like 20 mpg in a sedan or 15 mpg in an SUV. And on top of that you'll spend more maintaining/fixing your car cause of the increased wear. Do enjoy your 85 mph highways, but the tolls will be the least of your expenses, so don't blow them out of proportion.
Cars are happier while cruising at 85 constantly vs stop and go traffic. For most cars, the difference between 70 and 85 is around 500 rpm, nothing that modern cars cannot handle.
You'll spend 20 dollars on gas to go the entire length of the SH130? You just said an SUV going 85 would get about 15 MPG. To drive on it, it would take about 10 dollars.....
No, but you can now use the Oklahoma PIKEPASS and the Kansas K-TAG on all toll roads in Texas. Put more specifically, the TxTag, TollTag, EZ TAG, PIKEPASS and K-TAG all work on any toll road where any one of them works, and they all get the same discounted rates for electronic tag use. It is said that more are to come.
85 allows me to do 90, right?? 😂😎 Edit: Does it let me do 100mph without getting pulled over 😂😂 (just asking) I started driving lately... The fastest I've done is 110mph
My gauge reads up to 85mph, so it will be pegged out the whole way from Seguin to Austin. If I wanna go past 85, I will not know how fast I'm going...wait, thanks GPS speedometer. Also riding my motorcycle at that speed the lane stripe will be a solid stripe...
Road is failing its financial targets. Love the 1950’s speed limit signs. Totally worthless as the road seems to be. The thrill might be for one time experience. 50 miles at that speed saves little time plus gas expense plus toll expense.
They are building that one in segments. A good chunk of it should be open to traffic this year. It runs from I-10 to U.S 290 and is probably the most important segment because it will relieve the abhorrent traffic on U.S 290. The next three segments (F1,F2 are the only ones I can remember) will start construction sometime this summer-fall and be open to traffic by 2015. So most of the loop should be finished by 2016.
There should be more roads like this. But back East, the thought of a privately owned road with 85 MPH would be abhorrent, even in more rural areas. Because obviously roads must be run by the government charging huge tolls and having 65MPH speed limits so that they can get more revenue through traffic tickets. Privately run roads are better, cheaply and more efficiently run than if all that toll $ goes to gov't beauracrats.
They are nice, yes. France, Spain, Italy and Sweden do also have pretty nice roads. However, you should check out roads in Norway, where I come from. That's in the other end of the scale, to put it that way :P
reread what I wrote. Your question makes no sense. The only thing I don't like about this kind of toll road is that it's privately owned. Almost anything can happen on it and no one would be held accountable. What I am talking about is the same thing as the Pennsylvania turnpike, Indiana one too. Brings in a ton of money.....where do taxes- MORE taxes come into play????? Re-read both my comments fully before commenting again. Thank You.
