Lindale Loop 49 Relief Route Presented; Concerns Heard

By LAUREN GROVER
Tyler Morning Telegraph
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
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