Residents want info on route for I-69

February 7, 2008

By David Kassabian, Corpus Christi Caller-Times

ROBSTOWN -- South Texans asked state transportation officials on Wednesday how the proposed Interstate 69 Trans-Texas Corridor will divide their backyards.

More than area 225 residents attended a town hall meeting sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds.

The Trans-Texas Corridor is a 4,000-mile multi-modal transportation system that could include traffic lanes, rail lines and space for utility lines. The Interstate 69 Trans-Texas Corridor is about 650 miles of that system and would run from northeast Texas to the Rio Grande Valley.

But officials have not picked a route yet, instead narrowing the project to a swath of land wider than 50 miles in some places.

Wednesday's meeting, one of a series in the state, is in response to public requests. The event had no official topic, but residents' questions quickly centered on the Trans-Texas Corridor.

"Our priority will be to look at existing roads first," said Amadeo Saenz, executive director of the transportation department. "And there will be hundreds more meetings to get public input before we start construction."

David Smith, a resident of Duval County's Seven Sisters, asked officials to do all the studies needed, but not to build anything until there's real public input on the plan.

"When I came here tonight I thought we were going quail hunting," he said. "After being here, it seems like you're still looking for pellets."

Edroy resident John Barrett questioned how the project will divide San Patricio County.

"You can't run a highway diagonal through a county in Texas," he said.