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The Source: Bankrupt, What Is Next For State Highway 130?

Ryan E. Poppe

State Highway 130 boasts miles of high-speed, uncongested road. Sadly for the public-private partnership that built the road for the Texas Department of Transportation and now manages the toll road, it is too uncongested to meet the debt obligation it took to build. 

As you see from the above ad, the idea was to provide a reliable road outside of I-35 and US 281 to get from San Antonio to Austin. The economic crisis, paired with high gas prices meant less people on the roads, and the numbers that State Highway 130 Concession Company projected never materialized. 

The company has been in rough seas for awhile now, having delayed payments in the past. Now, $1.7 billion in debt, what happens as the company enters bankruptcy? And what does it say about public-private partnerships?

Guest

  • Guy Russell, chief operating officer for the State Highway Concessions Company 
  • Chris Wallace, president of the Texas Association of Business
Paul Flahive can be reached at Paul@tpr.org