WASHINGTON — An aggregates company’s proposal to build a 26.9-mile rail line to haul rock from four Texas quarries has run into local opposition.
Texas Materials Group has asked the Surface Transportation Board to approve its plans to build and operate a new rail line in Burnet and Lampasas counties. The shortline would connect to the Austin Western Railroad near Burnet, Texas, and to BNSF Railway’s Lampasas Subdivision near Lampasas, Texas.
To serve four quarries in the Burnet area, Texas Materials would reconstruct approximately 12.5 miles of track on the right-of-way of a Texas & New Orleans Railway line that was abandoned in 1951, as well as 14.4 miles of new railroad. The new railroad would carry an average of 1.6 120-car unit trains per day — and take up to 800 truckloads per day off Texas roads.
Texas Materials anticipates that AWRR and potentially BNSF, via trackage rights, would operate on the proposed line.
The STB is currently accepting comments as part of its environmental review of the proposed railroad. Area residents are up in arms over the proposal, which they say would devastate their ranches while harming the environment and creating noise and safety risks.
More than 1,750 residents have signed an online petition opposing the project.
Too close to Austin. That’s the problem.
Pass a law banning the DOT from spending tax funds on those roads used by those trucks since the “local” residents are okay with the trucks tearing up those roads. Give the people what they want.
What Laurence said!!!!! They don’t want a couple trains but close to a thousand trucks on the roads that I’ll venture a guess would get pretty beat up and eventually have to get repaired at those same tax payers that oppose a railroads expense. The row is there already for the most part from what I read and the ranchers have used that easement since the rails were taken up so screw em put the rails back in they’d be better for it.
Just think of all the dust that will be thrown into the air from trucks.
I would think 1-2 trains per day is going to be less noise and environmental pollution than 800 trucks.
I have some bad news for the petitioners.
90% of the former Texas & New Orleans (T&NO) RR ROW in the county is owned by the aggregates company. I just checked the Burnet County Tax records. The other 10% are owned by oil interests in Houston.
Many of the ranchers have built private dirt roads on the ROW. It appears that the ROW did not revert back to its adjoining property owners when the Southern Pacific abandoned the line. According to the tax office, it seems the T&NO (SP) owned the ROW outright. Those aforementioned oil interests seemed to have had the T&NO ROW bought out on their particular parcels.
I can understand that they may complain about it, but when these ranchers bought their land, they had to have been advised there was a ROW running across their parcel that they would not own. If memory serves, Texas law requires a full disclosure of any pre-existing claims within the parcel boundaries. This was done because people were finding they didn’t own the mineral rights (oil) under their land.
They probably thought to themselves, “they will never use that right of way ever again because they tore it out so we will just use it for our own puposes…” Well maybe the aggregate company should offer and option: “Let us use our right of way that WE own, or transfer to us land that will meet our needs that You own. And then we won’t require you to pay us the taxes that we paid so you could use our land tax free.” I would imagine a logical person would say, “keep your land and we’ll vacate our trail/road.” But this is Texas so who knows…
If the line isn’t interstate nor a common carrier, what business is it of the STB?
This is what happens to your state when tens of thousands of NIMBY-BANANA Californians move to your state. They leave California to escape the politics, yet bring it with them.
That and Tech coming to the Austin area. Tech draws in the “Microsoft Liberals.”
Do you have any real evidence that actually demonstrates that the opposition is from people who recently moved to Texas from California? I would be fascinated to see that.
I do, Laurence. First hand account from an area resident.
My sister-in-law and her husband lived in that area. It used to be solid red Republican. When Microsoft and the other California tech companies moved to the Austin area, the Bay Area people moved with them. The area began turning purple.
After her husband died, she sold their house in 2019 and moved into a condo in Lakeway. By that time, Travis County turned deep blue. Burnett and Williamson Counties turned purple.
Oracle and Apple moved to the Austin area in 2020. BTW, a DINC tech couple from the Bay Area bought their house. Paid cash.
Well Texas should not be able to delay it from eminent domain as it is part of an existing RR.
I am curious what is fully at play here. The quarries already have rail service, but they mention congestion in Austin. There does not appear to be a direct connection between the AWRR and BNSF, only the UP near Austin. I wonder if this a play for better rates or better service from the UP?
A couple of trains a day aren’t much of a noise risk. Run them in the daytime if needed.
But they are OK with the 800 trucks per day.
Yeah, Go figure…