About five years ago, the Texas Department of Transportation broke ground on a controversial toll-road network.  Now the $3.6 billion Central Texas turnpike project is about to come to an end.

Final touch-up work is underway on the final part of SH-130.  Road construction crews are in overdrive.  With only a few sections waiting to be paved, barricades will soon come down.  Commuters are expected to be on the road by April.

The eight-mile section from Highway 71, east of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, connects to U.S. Highway 183 near Mustang Ridge.  SH-130 runs 41 miles to Interstate 35 north of Georgetown.  The entire Central Texas turnpike project has 65 miles of new roadway.

Opening the southern leg of SH-130 will certainly bring a new flow of commuters and for some, those commuters could be customers. 
“It is very exciting because you can see everything around you here,” said Qusay Shaabneh, whose uncle renovated and opened a convenience store just a few feet from the tollway.  They believe their investment will pay off.  

The number of people using the SH-130 tollway continues to increase.  According to TxDOT, commuters drove through toll plazas 1.5 million times, and that was just in one month!  More are expected in April. 

When the SH-45 south link to I-35 is completed, by the spring of 2009, monthly toll transactions on the turnpike could hit $2 million.