East Texas

By LAUREN GROVER
Staff Writer

LINDALE — Transportation officials fielded questions and presented details of Route G at a public meeting Tuesday night, where residents examined final drawings of the projected Loop 49 Lindale Relief Route that could cut through their land as early as 2012.

Route G would snake between Hideaway and Lindale, connecting Interstate 20 to U.S. Highway 69 about 2.5 miles north of Lindale. It affects fewer acres of residential land and costs less than previous routes, said project consultant John Goodwin.

He estimated initial construction costs for a two-lane road at $46 million and total costs for completion into four lanes at $72 million, more than $16 million less than initial projections.

“We’ve met with every property owner along this route,” he said.

Many attended the Tuesday night meeting to find their names upon a blueprint tacked on the wall with blue-green Loop 49 lines crossing their land.

Herschell Voyles, 82, pointed to his eight acres the Texas Department of Transportation will purchase.

He built a home on it where he’s lived for 30 years, planning to hand it down to his children and grandchildren. He’s not angry, just saddened, he said.

“It’s hard to think about relocating — I have everything out there I want: my home, my shed, my barn, my garden,” Voyles said.

Other, more disgruntled residents, questioned the road’s necessity, but Lindale Mayor Pro Tem Jim Mallory said he has no doubts Loop 49 is crucial as traffic through downtown Lindale has accelerated to 20,000 to 25,000 cars and trucks a day.

“It’s wall to wall,” he said Tuesday. “If there’s any interruption, you should see the backup. But more than that, we’re concerned about hazmat trucks, it’s a terrible issue, and if one truck leaked or had a wreck in Lindale, we’d have a real mess.”

It frustrates landowners to be bullied by right of way purchases, Mallory said, and there’s no way around it.

This element is the thorn of every roadway plan, said TxDOT officials, and not their favorite job, but one they try to do respectfully.

Adding to the residents’ anxiety, state funding for Loop 49 south of I-20 is stagnant, putting the Lindale Relief Route on hold. “Yes, you’re in limbo,” said TxDOT district engineer Mary Meyland.

Before addressing the Lindale Relief Route, construction must finish to connect Loop 49’s first segments, Paluxy Drive west to Texas Highway 155, northwest to I-20.

Leveraging and bonding through the local Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority is the most promising venue for quicker progress, Meyland said.

“It takes vision and years of work to make this happen,” she said. “We don’t have the money, there’s not tax support, and we’re lucky to keep open what we’ve got.”

Though last in line, the Lindale Relief Route is considered the most viable segment of Loop 49, estimated to steal some 5,000 to 10,000 cars and trucks from congested Highway 69, she said. It will be worth the wait, she said, as downtown Lindale has already been compared to the aggravating stop-and-go of South Broadway Avenue.

“We need to bring the level of service on 69 back to an acceptable level,” said Lad Thompson, TxDOT assistant engineer.

The last of seven routes considered, Route G received the most public approval, officials said. But landowner Danny Foshee had trouble seeing it. All 52 acres of his property will be eaten up by an overpass at Loop 49 and Highway 69.

Years ago, he welcomed surveyors to his property because he didn’t mind contributing to this effort, but he can’t believe they’re taking it all.

“I don’t mind giving some,” he said Tuesday. “It’s just, I get the feeling they know we’re nice, country folks who don’t fuss a lot, so they can sort of take advantage. People with a lot of money, who put up a fight, they probably work around. I’m not the only one, lot of good folks here, and they say, there’s nothin’ we can do. I love my land as much as the next person.”

Meyland reminded attendees that the roadway serves a greater good, all current roadways required a sacrifice from landowners, and when I-20 was built, many residents donated their land for its construction.

Land purchase could begin as early as 2009 and all residents affected with be aided in the relocation process, TxDOT officials said.