The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, July 14, 2006 Page: 7 of 26
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Friday, July 14,2006
The Clifton Record
7-A
• CORRIDOR
Continued From Page One
feet on families and their land.
“Our court represents prob-
ably close to 500 years of fam-
ily and family values in this
county,” the judge explained.
“You have the Smiths and the
Words and the Schmidts and
the Koonsmans... all of these
families go all the way back to
the 1800s,” the judge said
Wednesday morning.
“This is who we are, where
we’re from. We’ve stayed here
to raise our families, just like
our predecessors, and we want
to continue to do that,” Word
continued.
“I understand that 1-35 basi-
cally from San Antonio to the
Metroplex is just about in grid-
lock as we speak. And I under-
stand how important
transportation is to the econo-
mies of all our communities.
We’ve got to be thinking for-
ward,” District 58 State Repre-
sentative Rob Orr
(R-Burleson) told The Record
Monday afternoon.
“With that said, I’m not in fa-
vor of the current alignment,
especially the alternative align-
ment that would come through
Bosque County. I’m totally
against that.”
Rep. Orr said he could sup-
port the alignment that runs
basically east of 1-35 to the
Metroplex.
“If it’s going to happen, and
I’ll tell you I’m not sure it’s ever
going to happen, I will be op-
posed to the alternative align-
ment. But I still think we’re 15
to 20 years out.”
“As the idea of the Trans
Texas Corridor has solidified,
and early steps in the design of
the proposal have been made,
I’ve heard serious concerns
from many of the folks I repre-
sent,” District 22 State Senator
Kip Averitt said in a statement
issued to The Clifton Record.
“At this point, based on the
comments I’ve heard from Sen-
ate District 22,1 am concerned
about the future of the Trans
Texas Corridor.”
Judge Word said that if the
alternate route comes to be,
the environmental impact will
be devastating. The route to
the north will come into the
county at the site of the Old
Chisholm 'frail, and some of the
other historic features of the
county will also be decimated.
Environmentalists have
noted that Bosque County is
the home for the golden-
cheeked warbler, a federally
endangered migratory bird
with a limited breeding range.
The warbler has been listed as
endangered since 1991 due to
rapidly declining populations.
The species is entirely depen-
dent upon the mature cedar
trees that are rampant in the
Central Texas area.
“The nesting of the golden-
cheeked warbler would be
greatly disturbed,” Judge Word
remarked.
As for legislative action to
stop or curtail portions, if not
all, of the TTC, some have al-
ready occurred, and Orr said
he expects more in the future.
“Originally, Centra was going
to own all of the property up
and down the corridor, and ba-
sically be able to sell it for con-
venience stores and that, and
that was where some of their
profits were going to come
from,” Rep. Orr told The
Record.
“In the last legislative ses-
sion, we said we needed to back
off this, not let them use immi-
nent domain and then re-sell.
We already Have done some
things to help protect private
property rights, and I think
we’ll keep looking at this every
session.
“I supported that bill, that ba-
sically said, ‘Hey, let’s slow
down, look at this, and be sure
that if anybody gets the advan-
tages from selling property, it
should be the homeowners
along that route,” Orr ex-
plained.
“I just think there’s still a lot
of work to be done, and I am
going to be very opposed to
anything coming up through
Bosque County,” Orr added.
Judge Word agrees.
“We just don’t want the cor-
ridor slicing through Bosque
County, period,” Word said.
“The design of the corridor
proposal is a long process, and
I will continue to monitor its de-
velopment. I support forward
thinking transportation solu-
tions, but if the citizens of this
state do not want the Trans
Texas Corridor, or their con-
cerns are not met, this project
will not move forward,” Sena-
tor Averitt said Wednesday
morning.
Wide-Range Opposition
Opponents of the TTC are
not hard to find, and many
reach across the state. In their
official 2006 platforms, both the
Texas Democrat and Texas Re-
publican Parties denounce the
project.
“Because there are issues of
confiscation of private land,
State and National sovereignty
,and other similar concerns, we
urge the repeal of the frans-
Texas Corridor legislation,”
reads the GOP platform.
The party adopted a similar
stance in its 2004 platform:
“Because there are issues of
confiscation of private land,
State, and National sovereignty
and other similar concerns, the
Party urges the repeal of HB
3588 authorizing the Trans-
Texas Corridor. Further, we
urge the removal of all authori-
zation and powers granted the
Texas Transportation Commis-
sion and the Texas Department
of Transportation for the con-
struction and operation of the
frans-Texas Corridor.”
The Democrats’ platform is
even more detailed in its objec-
tions to the proposals: “We op-
pose the proposed frans-Texas
Corridor, a proposal that is little
more than an attempt to trans-
fer ownership of a strip down
the middle of the state to a for-
eign corporation with close ties
to the Governor, which could
have a potentially devastating
effect on rural areas, property
owners and communities. We
also oppose the use of eminent
domain to deprive any property
owner of the possession, use, or
the ability to control the use of
their property, for the pure pur-
pose of economic development;
without just compensation; in
the absence of an obvious and
compelling public need.”
Chris Bell, a Democrat hop-
ing to unseat Governor Rick
Perry in November, wrote in an
opinion piece that “If you have
a car or a ranch in Texas, you
probably already don’t like the
frans-Texas Corridor.” He said
the plan “betrays a fundamen-
tal lack of accountability to the
basic rules of fair play.”
“Texans don’t want to give up
their farms and ranches be-
cause of some Austin insider
boondoggle. Texans don’t want
to pay tolls to drive on roads
they built with their taxes,” Bell
continued.
Carole Keeton Strayhorn,
Texas’ current comptroller of
public accounts and an inde-
pendent candidate for gover-
nor, said, “We will not sit quietly
by and let this Governor em-
bark on the biggest land grab
in history and cram toll roads
down our throats.”
• Continued On Next Page
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Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, July 14, 2006, newspaper, July 14, 2006; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth789164/m1/7/?q=%22~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.