Statewide TTC Protests Today
Highway opponents blaze trail to courthouse today
September 30, 2006
By Dan Genz
Waco Tribune-Herald
Copyright 2006
Riesel rancher Robert Cervenka plans to bring a handful of dirt from his ranch to this morning’s rally protesting the Trans-Texas Corridor at the McLennan County Courthouse.
Cervenka said the 10 a.m. event organized on behalf of state comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn’s gubernatorial campaign aims to send a message: “A cup of land is all the governor can take from me without a fight.”
The massive road project that would use private investment to relieve traffic congestion on Interstate 35 has long galvanized critics and today’s rallies at 42 county courthouses across the state could show how much of their support is going to Strayhorn.
Supporters from both parties including Democratic Hillsboro Mayor Will Lowrance and former Waco Republican congressional candidate Dot Snyder are joining the anti-corridor protests.
However, other corridor critics, including McLennan County commissioners, are staying away because they support other candidates.
Snyder, who is organizing the McLennan County event, said it should appeal to anyone who opposes the corridor and anyone who supports Strayhorn’s candidacy.
“Some of the people are energized about Strayhorn and not the corridor and some people are energized by the corridor and not Strayhorn,” Snyder said. “All should come.”
The impact the project will have on the campaign this year is difficult to gauge because some corridor critics, including the Texas Farm Bureau, have put their opposition aside to endorse corridor champion Gov. Rick Perry in the Nov. 7 election.
Strayhorn has the support of several prominent anti- corridor organizations, but her fellow gubernatorial contenders, Democratic nominee Chris Bell and independent candidate and humorist Kinky Friedman, both oppose the plan and have drawn some support from corridor critics.
Some critics fear the project will use eminent domain to take their land.
Proponents of the plan, designed to relieve overcrowding and prepare the state’s road system for an expected population boom, say it is the best approach to addressing Texas’ swamped highway infrastructure. Public criticism of the project, they say, will be weighed carefully.
Perry spokesman Robert Black said Strayhorn needs to tell Texans what she will do to meet the traffic demand, saying her calls for transportation revenue bonds and expanding Interstate 35 are too expensive.
Strayhorn will be attending rallies at Gonzales and San Antonio.
dgenz@wacotrib.com
757-5743
© 2006 The Waco Tribune-Herald: www.wacotrib.com
September 30, 2006
By Dan Genz
Waco Tribune-Herald
Copyright 2006
Riesel rancher Robert Cervenka plans to bring a handful of dirt from his ranch to this morning’s rally protesting the Trans-Texas Corridor at the McLennan County Courthouse.
Cervenka said the 10 a.m. event organized on behalf of state comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn’s gubernatorial campaign aims to send a message: “A cup of land is all the governor can take from me without a fight.”
The massive road project that would use private investment to relieve traffic congestion on Interstate 35 has long galvanized critics and today’s rallies at 42 county courthouses across the state could show how much of their support is going to Strayhorn.
Supporters from both parties including Democratic Hillsboro Mayor Will Lowrance and former Waco Republican congressional candidate Dot Snyder are joining the anti-corridor protests.
However, other corridor critics, including McLennan County commissioners, are staying away because they support other candidates.
Snyder, who is organizing the McLennan County event, said it should appeal to anyone who opposes the corridor and anyone who supports Strayhorn’s candidacy.
“Some of the people are energized about Strayhorn and not the corridor and some people are energized by the corridor and not Strayhorn,” Snyder said. “All should come.”
The impact the project will have on the campaign this year is difficult to gauge because some corridor critics, including the Texas Farm Bureau, have put their opposition aside to endorse corridor champion Gov. Rick Perry in the Nov. 7 election.
Strayhorn has the support of several prominent anti- corridor organizations, but her fellow gubernatorial contenders, Democratic nominee Chris Bell and independent candidate and humorist Kinky Friedman, both oppose the plan and have drawn some support from corridor critics.
Some critics fear the project will use eminent domain to take their land.
Proponents of the plan, designed to relieve overcrowding and prepare the state’s road system for an expected population boom, say it is the best approach to addressing Texas’ swamped highway infrastructure. Public criticism of the project, they say, will be weighed carefully.
Perry spokesman Robert Black said Strayhorn needs to tell Texans what she will do to meet the traffic demand, saying her calls for transportation revenue bonds and expanding Interstate 35 are too expensive.
Strayhorn will be attending rallies at Gonzales and San Antonio.
dgenz@wacotrib.com
757-5743
© 2006 The Waco Tribune-Herald:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Saturday, September 30, 2006
<< Home