"We have some problems with this process."
Landowners' I-69 wait drags on
Ranchers, residents fear being in the path of proposed highway
March 23, 2006
By Brandi Dean
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Copyright 2006
More than 200 people in the possible path of Trans-Texas Corridor-69, the Texas portion of the I-69 proposal, gathered Wednesday looking for answers.
Howard Gafford, for instance, doesn't know what's going to happen down the road. He is pretty sure his ranch in Ben Bolt is going to lose some land when I-69 is built. But depending on its path, he may have to move his house as well. He was hoping the meeting with Texas Department of Transportation representatives at Coastal Bend College in Alice would help him know what to expect.
"We're not very well informed," he said.
That seemed to be a common theme in the standing-room-only audience. The meeting was designed to give government officials, business leaders and landowners in Brooks, Jim Wells and Hidalgo counties an update on the road's progress. Because talk of the 650-mile highway stretching from Texarkana to Mexico began more than a decade ago, many have been waiting since the early 1990s to know how their land will be affected. And the wait has caused frustration.
"We understand that TxDOT has to go through this process, but we have some problems with this process," said Berdon Lawrence, a rancher speaking on behalf of the landowners.
The group was primarily concerned with one of the routes the department is considering. Originally, state transportation department assistant executive director Amadeo Saenz said, the options were to expand portions of U.S. highways 77 or 281. But about a year and a half ago, the department realized that King Ranch might present a problem to the route because King Ranch is designated historic property and federal law required other options be considered.
So the department began looking west of U.S. 281. That could mean blazing a 1,200-feet-wide trail through ranch and farmland, a prospect that worried many farm and ranch owners.
"When properties are divided, it creates a huge disruption for your operations," Lawrence said. "I'm not sure you can continue to operate in a lot of cases. The economic impact is too severe."
Saenz said legislation passed in August changed the situation again. This legislation allows the transportation department to build on historic land, if the impact is minimal.
"Does that mean we throw away that west project?" Saenz said. "No. But it means we can go back and look more closely at 281 and 77."
Saenz couldn't say, at this point, which path had the greatest chance of being chosen. The transportation department will be looking at the impact on endangered species, historical property and local economies for all the options. A preliminary decision should be ready late this year, but Gafford said that's not a lot of help right now.
"I really didn't know much more when I left than when I came," Gafford said. "We'll just wait and see."
Contact Brandi Dean at 886-3778 or HYPERLINK mailto:deanb@caller.com deanb@caller.com
© 2006 Scripps Texas Newspapers, L.P. A Scripps Howard newspaper. www.caller.com
Ranchers, residents fear being in the path of proposed highway
March 23, 2006
By Brandi Dean
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Copyright 2006
More than 200 people in the possible path of Trans-Texas Corridor-69, the Texas portion of the I-69 proposal, gathered Wednesday looking for answers.
Howard Gafford, for instance, doesn't know what's going to happen down the road. He is pretty sure his ranch in Ben Bolt is going to lose some land when I-69 is built. But depending on its path, he may have to move his house as well. He was hoping the meeting with Texas Department of Transportation representatives at Coastal Bend College in Alice would help him know what to expect.
"We're not very well informed," he said.
That seemed to be a common theme in the standing-room-only audience. The meeting was designed to give government officials, business leaders and landowners in Brooks, Jim Wells and Hidalgo counties an update on the road's progress. Because talk of the 650-mile highway stretching from Texarkana to Mexico began more than a decade ago, many have been waiting since the early 1990s to know how their land will be affected. And the wait has caused frustration.
"We understand that TxDOT has to go through this process, but we have some problems with this process," said Berdon Lawrence, a rancher speaking on behalf of the landowners.
The group was primarily concerned with one of the routes the department is considering. Originally, state transportation department assistant executive director Amadeo Saenz said, the options were to expand portions of U.S. highways 77 or 281. But about a year and a half ago, the department realized that King Ranch might present a problem to the route because King Ranch is designated historic property and federal law required other options be considered.
So the department began looking west of U.S. 281. That could mean blazing a 1,200-feet-wide trail through ranch and farmland, a prospect that worried many farm and ranch owners.
"When properties are divided, it creates a huge disruption for your operations," Lawrence said. "I'm not sure you can continue to operate in a lot of cases. The economic impact is too severe."
Saenz said legislation passed in August changed the situation again. This legislation allows the transportation department to build on historic land, if the impact is minimal.
"Does that mean we throw away that west project?" Saenz said. "No. But it means we can go back and look more closely at 281 and 77."
Saenz couldn't say, at this point, which path had the greatest chance of being chosen. The transportation department will be looking at the impact on endangered species, historical property and local economies for all the options. A preliminary decision should be ready late this year, but Gafford said that's not a lot of help right now.
"I really didn't know much more when I left than when I came," Gafford said. "We'll just wait and see."
Contact Brandi Dean at 886-3778 or HYPERLINK mailto:deanb@caller.com deanb@caller.com
© 2006 Scripps Texas Newspapers, L.P. A Scripps Howard newspaper.
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Thursday, March 23, 2006
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