Ferrovial inaugurated this week segments 5 and 6 of State Highway 130, linking the cities of Austin and San Antonio, in Texas. The consortium headed by Ferrovial, through toll road subsidiary Cintra and also involves Zachry American Infrastructure, was awarded the contract to design, build and operate this new infrastructure until 2062.
The project, built as a public-private partnership with an investment of 1.389 billion dollars (about 1.064 billion euro) was financed with a bank loan, a TIFIA loan, and equity. “As a result, these two new segments of SH130 were built at no cost to the US taxpayer,” Ferrovial said in a press release.
Segments 5 and 6 of SH130 total 41 miles (64 kilometres) of toll road between Mustang Ridge, south-east of Austin, and the I-10/Texas 130, in Seguin, north-west of San Antonio. The new road is an alternative to the most congested section of I-35, the road that crosses the centre of the United States. Additionally, the new infrastructure will absorb the increase in heavy vehicle traffic arising from economic growth in Texas.
SH130 will be the first highway in the United States with a speed limit of 85 miles per hour (136 km/h). Drivers will be able to maintain this speed along the 64 kilometres of road since the electronic tolling system installed by Cintra eliminates the need for toll plazas.
Ferrovial Agroman, the group's construction subsidiary, built the road in a 50:50 consortium with Zachry “with a budget of 968 million dollars, the project generated over 3,600 direct jobs,” according to Ferrovial.
