HUNTSVILLE – About 400 residents from Walker and surrounding counties voiced opposing opinions on the I-69/Trans Texas Corridor last Wednesday night.
Held in the Walker Education Center, the meeting was one of 47 public hearings held by the Texas Department of Transportation to provide citizens an opportunity to comment on the I-69/TTC draft environmental impact statement (DEIS).
While there was no meeting scheduled in San Jacinto County, meetings were held last week in surrounding counties of Walker, Liberty, Polk and Trinity.
 In Trinity County, where more than 700 people attended the meeting held there, TxDOT representatives were met with a protest march, while in Huntsville Walker County farmers drove their tractors to the meeting protesting what they describe as a government land grab.
Many attending the meeting expressed concerns about TxDOT going through with a plan that many feel will put the safety of Texas’ infrastructure in jeopardy.
Current plans for the corridor include high speed commuter rail, freight rail and utilities running in the same right-of-way as passenger and truck traffic.
TxDOT officials claim that no formal estimates have been done at this time so no determination about what the corridor will contain has been made.
The corridor is expected to span from far South Texas to Northeast Texas. According to the Keep Texas Moving Web site, the project is a “plan to solve the transportation problems Texans are facing, such as increased congestion, reduced maintenance and the lack of new capacity.”
TxDOT officials told residents they are looking at a study for the growing needs of the state of Texas that is still in the study process. The meetings are an informal way to have open dialogue about the issue.
Once the meetings are completed a narrower study will be accessed, showing residents a more defined line for the project.
The TTC is described as an innovative transportation blueprint that will move the transportation of hazardous materials out of urban population centers, relieve congestion, reduce air pollution, and significantly improve opportunities for economic development in Texas. The TTC incorporates toll roads, highspeed freight and commuter rail, water lines, oil and gas pipelines, electric transmission lines, broadband and other telecommunications infrastructure in the same corridors.