Pickle Parkway | ||||
Route information | ||||
Length | 130.6 mi[1] (210.2 km) | |||
Existed | 1985[1]–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | I-35 / I-410 in San Antonio | |||
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North end | I-35 in Georgetown | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Texas | |||
Highway system | ||||
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State Highway 130 (SH 130), also known as the Pickle Parkway, is a freeway and toll road in the U.S. state of Texas. It runs parallel to Interstate 35 (I-35) in San Antonio along I-410 and I-10 to east of Seguin, then north as a toll road from there to I-35 north of Georgetown.[1] SH 130 runs in a 91-mile (146 km) corridor east and south of Austin. The route parallels I-35 and is intended to relieve the Interstate's traffic volume through the San Antonio–Austin corridor by serving as an alternate route.
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.
The 41-mile (66 km) section of the toll road between SH 45 and I-10 has a posted speed limit of 85 mph (137 km/h), the highest posted speed limit in the Americas. As of December 2014, the only speed limits in the world higher than this are the 140 km/h (87 mph) limits of Poland and Bulgaria,[2] and the United Arab Emirates’ 160 km/h (100 mph) limit, as well as Germany and the Isle of Man, which have roads without any posted maximum limit.[3][4]