BY JANE TURCHI
Also of note
Looking ahead
Barton Hill Cemetery, the resting place of African Americans, some of whom once worked the land, is located on the Barton property near the future plant site. Louise Barnes—whose family lived on the prop- erty—has parents, grandparents and great-grandpar- ents buried at the Barton Hill Cemetery. “It was disturbing when I saw that they had moved the dirt and cleared out all around the cemetery. It just seems like the cemetery is right in the middle of all of that,” Barnes said. Irma Bookman who lives near Rambo mine and has family in the Barton Hill Cemetery, said she would like to see mining companies work with neighbors to address concerns. “I think there are solutions that can be easily implemented,” Bookman said. Despite the nearby work, arrangements to visit the cemetery can be made like always, Weynand said.
Weynand said he plans to add turn lanes and widen the section of FM 969 to aid trac ow in front of the future mine. Neighborhood residents plan to create a community advisory council to initiate conversation between mining companies and the surrounding community. “We’ve gone and turned this pastoral setting into a commercial setting—industrial—and yet there’s never been a conversation,” Flynn said.
The Texas Department of Transportation recently lowered trac speeds along FM 969 from 65 mph to 60 mph due to public concern. Any further speed reductions await a follow-up trac study on the roadway. Listed as one of the county’s most congested roadways in the 2023 Bastrop County Transportation Plan, FM 969 will be increased from a two-lane to a six-lane divided highway to ease trac ow.
Projected turn lane at future mine Plans for turn lane on FM 969 in front of the future Travis Materials mine site are in the works.
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969
Planned widening Previously widened road section
Travis Materials future mining site
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SOURCE: TRAVIS MATERIALSCOMMUNITY IMPACT
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