Editorial: Keep up the pressue on Texas 121

Thanks go to state Sen. Kip Averitt for arranging a meeting with the interested parties for the Texas 121 project.

Too bad that when the meeting ended nothing was really resolved and the invited mayors came away saying they felt less confident about the project than before the meeting began.

The North Texas Tollway Authority board chairman, Paul Wageman, said he was more confident about the project, but it’s easier to understand the mayors’ positions than Wageman’s.

Wageman said nothing can be done until funding issues are resolved. This is understandable, but it’s part of the frustration with this project.

Other projects in the Metroplex have begun and ended over the decades that transportation officials and representatives have dangled the hope of a major thoroughfare in front of Johnson County residents.

Gov. Rick Perry’s now abandoned TranTexas Corridor made greater progress in less time.

Other communities in the county have joined Cleburne in hoping that the road would benefit them, either by relieving traffic congestion from commuters or by providing increased traffic near enough to the community to drive economic growth.

But for all the talk, little action has been seen. Could it be that officials and legislators dismiss Johnson County and its needs?

For all its rural charms Johnson County is home to more than 150,000 people, and it’s growing. A large percentage of residents work in another town, many of those in the Metroplex.

Texas 174 and I-35W, the two primary routes to Fort Worth, are nightmares during peak traffic times, and an accident on either road turns them into parking lots. Drivers’ only alternatives are two-lane state highways and farm-to-market roads.

A road like Texas 121 would help relieve some of the traffic woes that will only grow worse as the area’s population increases.

And, as has been noted before, some economic opportunities will not be available to county communities without the road.

If funding is the major problem here, and most of the funding comes from the Legislature, then it’s up to our legislators to find a solution and to convince other legislators to support funding the project because the road’s benefits extend beyond Johnson County to the entire Metroplex.

Averitt and state Rep. Rob Orr of Burleson are more optimistic than we are, but they agree that a new method of funding needs to be put into place. This is their chance to demonstrate clear leadership.

They and their staffs should work together to find a funding solution, and then they need to apply constant pressure to NTTA, the Texas Department of Transportation and their fellow legislators to make this project a priority.

If you believe Texas 121 is vital to this area, write or call your legislators. This will help them show this is not a pet project of a few well-connected individuals or the newspaper but a necessary lifeline the county’s residents demand be given the attention it deserves.

Contact them this week and next week and the week after. Keep up the pressure. It’s the only way to ensure our voices are heard.

Sen. Kip Averitt — District Address: River Square Center, 215 Mary, Ste. 303, Waco, TX 76701, or 1100 E. Hwy. 377, Ste. 103, Granbury, TX 76048. District phone — Waco: 254-772-6225. District phone — Granbury: 817-573-9622.

Rep. Rob Orr — District Address: 201 W. Ellison, Ste. 201, Burleson, TX 76028. District Phone: 817-295-5158. E-mail: rob.orr@house.state.tx.us.

This editorial is the opinion of the Cleburne Times-Review