Toll roads are commonplace in other parts of the country but somewhat unusual down here. Which may help to explain how I got lost coming back from Temple the other day despite having driven the route for, oh, about thirty years, off and on. It would help if the signs weren’t so confusing. You hear that, TXDot?
I was on I-35 going south when I was offered the chance to take the new Texas 45 toll road that joins up with Mo-Pac Boulevard west of Austin which is near home. I paid my $1.50, figuring to beat the I-35 snarl that starts near Georgetown and continues well south of Austin. Everything was fine until the toll road suddenly divided. Left was another new toll road, Texas 130, which the sign said went to South Austin, and right was more Texas 45 west to Round Rock. It was confusing, and at 70 mph there wasn’t time to think. I knew I didn’t want to go to Round Rock, so I went left and soon had to pay another $1.50.
Fortunately, I almost ran out of gas, which meant I had to get off 130 to find a gas station. As it was I wound up at a station in Pflugerville, which is well east of Austin. It took a while to mentally adjust to being well out of the way of where I wanted to go. If I’d not had to stop for gas, I could have wound up well south of Austin, which is where 130 goes. As it was I only had to cut west across north Austin to find Mo-Pac, turn left and head home. Next time, I’ll know to skip Texas 130 altogether.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 