“We can’t just lay down and cry about this.”
Family wary of their farm possibly in TTC's path
April 05, 2006
By Mike Anderson
Waco Tribune-Herald
Copyright 2006
For 132 years, the Whatley family farm has been surrounded by quiet countryside a few miles east of Bruceville-Eddy. That soon could change in the name of progress.
The draft environmental impact statement for the Trans-Texas Corridor released Tuesday finds the land in the middle of a 10-mile zone that likely will host the transportation route.
News that the state’s preferred corridor route could pass through their 500-acre farm did not sit well with Calvin and Julia Whatley. The farm has belonged to the family since William Thomas Whatley bought the first section for 500 gold dollars in 1874, the couple said. That first Whatley resident is buried a couple of miles away at the Blevins Cemetery, also in the 10-mile zone.
“He died young, and his wife always thought it was all of the hard work that he put into building up this land that killed him,” Julia Whatley said. “I’m afraid if he knew what we learned today, he would think all of his hard work was in vain.”
The couple, both 82, have worked the farm since the 1950s, and they have lived there since 1974.
They have made it no secret that they oppose the corridor and its champion, Gov. Rick Perry. The governor has promoted the corridor as a means to handle anticipated growth in trade and Texas’ population, as a way to alleviate Interstate 35 congestion and as as valuable tool to help prevent terrorist attacks or other disasters.
Perry’s campaign manager, Robert Black, said Tuesday that it is too early to know where the corridor will go, but he said the governor has worked to ensure that those whose property is affected by the toll road will receive royalties from the revenue it will generate.
Those arguments mean little to the couple, who have joined the Blackland Coalition in Bell County in speaking out against the proposal.
Calvin Whatley said Tuesday that he believes the state could meet anticipated growth by widening Interstate 35. State transportation officials have dismissed such an action as not viable given that cities such as Bruceville-Eddy are centered just yards from the interstate.
Whatley said he plans to keep fighting against the proposal with all he has.
“We always have to keep up hope that all the work hundreds of people have put in against this thing might still change the plans,” he said. “We can’t just lay down and cry about this.”
manderson@wacotrib.com
757-5741
© 2006 Cox Newspapers, L.P. - The Waco Tribune-Herald www.wacotrib.com
April 05, 2006
By Mike Anderson
Waco Tribune-Herald
Copyright 2006
For 132 years, the Whatley family farm has been surrounded by quiet countryside a few miles east of Bruceville-Eddy. That soon could change in the name of progress.
The draft environmental impact statement for the Trans-Texas Corridor released Tuesday finds the land in the middle of a 10-mile zone that likely will host the transportation route.
News that the state’s preferred corridor route could pass through their 500-acre farm did not sit well with Calvin and Julia Whatley. The farm has belonged to the family since William Thomas Whatley bought the first section for 500 gold dollars in 1874, the couple said. That first Whatley resident is buried a couple of miles away at the Blevins Cemetery, also in the 10-mile zone.
“He died young, and his wife always thought it was all of the hard work that he put into building up this land that killed him,” Julia Whatley said. “I’m afraid if he knew what we learned today, he would think all of his hard work was in vain.”
The couple, both 82, have worked the farm since the 1950s, and they have lived there since 1974.
They have made it no secret that they oppose the corridor and its champion, Gov. Rick Perry. The governor has promoted the corridor as a means to handle anticipated growth in trade and Texas’ population, as a way to alleviate Interstate 35 congestion and as as valuable tool to help prevent terrorist attacks or other disasters.
Perry’s campaign manager, Robert Black, said Tuesday that it is too early to know where the corridor will go, but he said the governor has worked to ensure that those whose property is affected by the toll road will receive royalties from the revenue it will generate.
Those arguments mean little to the couple, who have joined the Blackland Coalition in Bell County in speaking out against the proposal.
Calvin Whatley said Tuesday that he believes the state could meet anticipated growth by widening Interstate 35. State transportation officials have dismissed such an action as not viable given that cities such as Bruceville-Eddy are centered just yards from the interstate.
Whatley said he plans to keep fighting against the proposal with all he has.
“We always have to keep up hope that all the work hundreds of people have put in against this thing might still change the plans,” he said. “We can’t just lay down and cry about this.”
manderson@wacotrib.com
757-5741
© 2006 Cox Newspapers, L.P. - The Waco Tribune-Herald
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Wednesday, April 05, 2006
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