"It is going to raise a big stink."
Rural residents steamed about the plan
4/05/2006
Roger Croteau
San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2006
NEW BERLIN — Somewhere in the sandy hills of scattered mesquite and live oak, Gov. Rick Perry's dream of a 1,200-foot-wide corridor of highways and rail lines could become a reality.
A large swath of Guadalupe County is included in the state's recommended corridor option for the Trans-Texas Corridor route from Oklahoma to Mexico.
But Perry's dream is a nightmare to many residents who call rural Guadalupe County home. They see an unwanted behemoth ripping apart farms and communities.
"Rick Perry should be fired," said Nicole Marcell, tending bar at The Bend in the hamlet of Olmos. "They should leave my county alone."
Over by the video poker machine, Jimmy Lenz, who owns 100 acres in the area, studied the map closely.
"I think it's going to ruin everything, as far as agriculture is concerned," he said. "People make money off the land out here. You can put in the paper that my property is for sale right now, in case any investors want to come out and buy it up. I'll get out before they start building it."
The specific route of TTC-35, as it's called, is far from settled. But the map of corridor options gives a general idea of where the project will go.
County Judge Don Schraub said he is almost certain the route will follow the proposed path of planned Texas 130 from Interstate 10 to the north edge of the county. That project, which was to run from Georgetown to I-10, is expected to become part of TTC-35.
Landowners in the Texas 130 route already have been notified they are in the path of the new roadway, although the TTC-35 right of way is expected to be 200 feet wider than what they were expecting.
"The ranchers still don't like it, and I don't blame them," Schraub said. "Some of those families have been there for generations. You don't want to give up great-grandpa's place. If it was my land, I'd probably be jumping up and down squalling too.
"By the same token, people had to give up land for Interstate 10. That's the cost of progress."
Schraub said he expects relatively few landowners to be affected south of I-10.
"That area was never settled very heavily because of the poor, sandy soil," he said. "Your cow will eat all day and starve to death out there."
Sidney Bauer, a member of the Seguin Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee, saw the ruckus created by the Texas 130 planning process and expects things to get more intense.
Texas "130 was going to be quite a project," he said. "It was controversial enough. This Trans-Texas project is going to be even more controversial. It is going to raise a big stink."
But even some of those potentially in the path see the need for Perry's big idea.
"They've got to do something," said Robert Bronstad, another patron at The Bend. "Have you driven to Austin lately?"
rcroteau@express-news.net
© 2006 San Antonio Express-News: www.mysanantonio.com
4/05/2006
Roger Croteau
San Antonio Express-News
Copyright 2006
NEW BERLIN — Somewhere in the sandy hills of scattered mesquite and live oak, Gov. Rick Perry's dream of a 1,200-foot-wide corridor of highways and rail lines could become a reality.
A large swath of Guadalupe County is included in the state's recommended corridor option for the Trans-Texas Corridor route from Oklahoma to Mexico.
But Perry's dream is a nightmare to many residents who call rural Guadalupe County home. They see an unwanted behemoth ripping apart farms and communities.
"Rick Perry should be fired," said Nicole Marcell, tending bar at The Bend in the hamlet of Olmos. "They should leave my county alone."
Over by the video poker machine, Jimmy Lenz, who owns 100 acres in the area, studied the map closely.
"I think it's going to ruin everything, as far as agriculture is concerned," he said. "People make money off the land out here. You can put in the paper that my property is for sale right now, in case any investors want to come out and buy it up. I'll get out before they start building it."
The specific route of TTC-35, as it's called, is far from settled. But the map of corridor options gives a general idea of where the project will go.
County Judge Don Schraub said he is almost certain the route will follow the proposed path of planned Texas 130 from Interstate 10 to the north edge of the county. That project, which was to run from Georgetown to I-10, is expected to become part of TTC-35.
Landowners in the Texas 130 route already have been notified they are in the path of the new roadway, although the TTC-35 right of way is expected to be 200 feet wider than what they were expecting.
"The ranchers still don't like it, and I don't blame them," Schraub said. "Some of those families have been there for generations. You don't want to give up great-grandpa's place. If it was my land, I'd probably be jumping up and down squalling too.
"By the same token, people had to give up land for Interstate 10. That's the cost of progress."
Schraub said he expects relatively few landowners to be affected south of I-10.
"That area was never settled very heavily because of the poor, sandy soil," he said. "Your cow will eat all day and starve to death out there."
Sidney Bauer, a member of the Seguin Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee, saw the ruckus created by the Texas 130 planning process and expects things to get more intense.
Texas "130 was going to be quite a project," he said. "It was controversial enough. This Trans-Texas project is going to be even more controversial. It is going to raise a big stink."
But even some of those potentially in the path see the need for Perry's big idea.
"They've got to do something," said Robert Bronstad, another patron at The Bend. "Have you driven to Austin lately?"
rcroteau@express-news.net
© 2006 San Antonio Express-News:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Wednesday, April 05, 2006
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