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Temple residents concerned after city grabs land for new highway loop

For some Temple residents who wanted to get away from the traffic, life just got more complicated as the city plans to build a new highway near their front yards.

Temple is building a new highway around the west side of the city, but they’re also building it in some homeowners’ front yards.

The new outer temple loop is planned to have two lanes each way and reach to I-35, south of Temple. Part of the highway is already completed but the rest will replace streets.

Homeowner Robert Henderson said he doesn't understand their reason for it.

“There’s plenty of raw land out here,” Henderson said. “Why they can’t move it over…I don’t know.”

Temple could not tell Channel 6 exactly whose property would be hit. However, City Engineer Don Bond said they will take a careful approach.

“We try to strike a balance in the alignment of the road and not affecting properties too much,” Bond said.

The city said the new highway will mean less congestion on I-35 and easier access for business to the Industrial Park.

However, for residents like Henderson who moved to the area to get away from traffic, life just got more complicated.

“I was hoping this would be my last move, it may or may not be,” Henderson said.

The Temple city council is still trying to acquire properties to finish the loop. The council will discuss several eminent domain issues Thursday.

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