Over 800 Montgomery County residents turned out for a meeting at the Lone Star Community Center in Montgomery Monday night. The purpose of the meeting was to let residents know of the high speed rail route from Houston to Dallas. The meeting was called by local concerned residents after learning the Texas Central Railway had plans of cutting people property in half as they ran the high speed rail through the county. To date, over a dozen counties have shown opposition to the rail but it has done little to take the steam out of Texas Central Railways engines. The biggest concern was that the rail could come in, and using the power of eminent domain, could virtually take property for the multi-million dollar project. May asked the question how could private enterprise grab land by eminent domain.
The train which would travel just over 200 miles per hour between Houston and Dallas could be operational by 2021.
Residents also voiced concerns over access to their property and the seconds count with police, fire and ambulance services when some county roads could be actually blocked by the rail system.
Many learned that their tax dollars spent on TXDOT were also being used to help put steam in the engines. TXDOT has gone after several grants to study the use of high-speed rail, this not even with the publics’ knowledge.
Montgomery County Precinct 1 Commissioner Mike Meador said while Montgomery County Commissioners Court passed a resolution late last year that it did not support the project, he added it is time for the court to readdress that resolution and “toughen it up.” Judge Craig Doyal also vowed to get the County Attorney’s Office involved in the fight.
Kyle Workman, the administrator for NoTexasHSR.com, said not only do residents need to protect Montgomery County, but he urged them to stand up for the other counties the rail line would affect.
VIEW THE COMPLETE VIDEO OF THE NEARLY TWO HOUR LONG MEETING AND HOW ELECTED OFFICIALS AND RESIDENTS PLAN TO FIGHT THIS
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