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Originally Posted by Tyrone Shoes
I wouldn't say rail is out. Remember 130 was built as part of the Trans Texas Corridor-35 system and that was part of the NAFTA Highway system and NAFTA Rail. It wasn't built out like at that time it was touted as having expressway lanes, frontage, right of way for communication lines (high speed internet) passenger rail and freight rail. I guess the state (or someone) still has the right of way and it'll be expensive but do-able to lay tracks to Manor.
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SH-130 was already in design when the Trans Texas Corridor concept was announced. There was a report commissioned to determine if the proposed alignment was suitable for rail. The conclusion was that the horizontal curvatures were compatible with rail, but the vertical curves (hills and valleys) were too steep for freight rail. It probably would have been OK for lighter passenger rail. I don't remember where the challenging locations were, but the area between Decker Lake and Whisper Valley is fairly hilly. That could be overcome by building up embankments and bridges and trenching higher points, but that would be expensive. The SH-130 ROW is also not nearly as wide as the TTC envisioned, but there is probably sufficient width for a rail line, as long as they don't use it all up with the current widening plans.