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If it's public input they want,
don't wait ... let's give it to them
Dear Editor:
The state of Texas wants to turn your backyard
into either a road or a shopping mall, and we need to tell Governor
(Rick) Perry that the citizens of this state won't have it.
Rick Perry, his appointed Trans-Texas Corridor
Commission and Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) plan to
construct a 4,000-mile network of transportation corridors through
over 143 of the 254 counties in Texas.
The corridors will be 1,200 feet wide and contain
six vehicle lanes, four rail lines and utility zone.
They insist that public input is vital to this
project, but few people were aware of the public hearings being held
in every Texas county in February.
TxDOT and the commission were asked by Fayette
County to return for a second public hearing, and residents
numbering over 800 flooded the KC Community Center in La Grange and
expressed that they did not support the project.
How many Texas residents would feel the same if
they also knew?
Four football fields wide, 4,000 miles long. How
much beautiful, unpolluted rural Texas land is that? How many homes
and lives? How many churches, graveyards, historical markers, family
farms? Is it your land, home, life?
It very likely is, and if not, perhaps your
friends or families. Take a look at the maps on the Trans-Texas
Corridor Web site at
www.dot.state.tx.us/ttc/ttc_home.htm.
And if you think you're not in its path, consider this.
State legislation has been passed that gives the
government the right to acquire extra right of way and lease it for
a profit to big businesses. Say goodbye to rural Texas.
CorridorWatch.org was created
by those who oppose the Trans Texas Corridor and the grim future it
proposes. Check them out at www.corridorWatch.org/ttc/index.htm. The
site provides information, sources for more information, Texans'
concerns, and it brings to light all of the issues that must be
addressed - now.
When the government comes to take your land, it
will be too late. You must inform yourself, your family, your
friends, your neighbors. Everybody needs to express their concerns
to those that need to hear them. We need the support of all Texans.
They want public input, so let's give it to them.
Don't wait until they are taking your land.
Sincerely,
Sara Muras
Fayette County, Texas
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