TYLER - Heated debates are cropping up in rural East Texas communities as the Texas Department of Transportation hold hearings on the proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor.

It's the first construction project of it's kind in the country. The Texas Department of Transportation says they want it to make room for a growing state.

"A thousand people a day move to texas," says spokesman Larry Krantz,"where are these people going to drive? The population in Texas is going to explode by 60% in the year 2030."

Their plans involve moving commercial trucks off existing interstate highways and onto one of two Trans-Texas Corridors.

One corridor extends alongside Interstate 35 from Laredo to Grapevine, near dallas.

The other runs from the Rio Grande Valley up -- through Deep East Texas counties -- all the way to Texarkana.

"Nobody's denying that we need more infrastructure in the state," says Hank Gilbert.

Gilbert's group, Texas Turf, is leading efforts in East Texas against the corridor project.

He says the Trans-Texas Corridor is no way to solve growth issues.

"We can do something a lot more friendlier to the environment, a lot less painful to the traveling public, a commuter rail and alternative a lot traffic on this interstate highway," Gilbert said.

In TX-DOT projections, you see the corridors extending up to 1200 feet wide. The super-highways would include lanes for the trucking traffic, several lanes going both ways; rail traffic; and room for future utility lines like electricity and water. It's what they call the ultimate design; not the reality for the entire stretch of the corridors.

Gilbert calls it a land grab,"they're going to divide our state into little segments. It's going to deny access in communities from one place to another."

TX-DOT officials say the corridors will have traditional on- and off-ramps as well as over-passes for communities.

But those with farms, ranches and homes in the projected highway trail are packing public hearings. They say the size of the projects makes it personal.

"This land has been in my husband's family since 1925," one woman said in tears at a hearing in Nacogdoches.

"What we have now is not going to be enough. So, if TTC projects are not the answer, we need to the public get involved to tell us what is. Simply saying 'no' is not enough," Krantz said.

TX-DOT says, no matter how it's paid for, tolls will pay back the cost of construction; not tax dollars.

Something Gilbert says is not a consolation.

Krantz stresses these options are only the beginning of the plan, which can change. They are accepting public comments right now online and by mail.

Keep Texas Moving

Texas Turf