Strayhorn speaks out on Trans-Texas Corridor

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

Texas politics” best-known “Grandma,” Carole Keeton Strayhorn was in Lockhart this week to give a speech at a public hearing hosted by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
The meeting was another in a series of public hearings regarding the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC-35)- a multi-use transportation system propo

sed to be built through Texas from Oklahoma to the border. One proposal for the super-highway has it running concurrently with State Highway 130 through Caldwell County.
Around 200 residents from Caldwell and the surrounding counties attended the meeting, most expressing grave concern over the highway project.
“Most of these people think it”s a great idea and we need to have it, but they don”t want it going through their own back yards,” said Lockhart Mayor James “Jimmy” Bertram.
However, some believe that the input given during the public hearings does little, if anything, to faze TxDOT.
“If they want your land, they”re going to get your land,” said Morris Alexander. “They are going to put that road exactly where they want it to go.”
Strayhorn was one of several area candidates and elected officials in attendance at Monday”s meeting. She expressed vocal objection to the TTC-35 project, and vowed to defeat it if she is elected governor in November.
While much of the audience agreed with Strayhorn”s words, some were not pleased about her speaking.
“Everyone else was limited to 3 minutes,” said Dorothy Schulle later. “She spoke for at least 10… I didn”t go to that meeting to go to a political rally.”
The public meeting in Lockhart was one of a series that TxDOT will be hosting throughout the region over the next several weeks to discuss the TTC-35 project.
For information on the Trans-Texas Corridor, or on State Highway 130, visit TxDOT online at www.keeptexasmoving.com.
kathibliss!@post-register.com