TROY (KCEN)- It's the price of progress. As Interstate 35 expands in Central Texas, it's taking out part of the town of Troy. But some are figuring out how to beat that price with some structural ingenuity.
Down dusty Bendle Road in the Troy outskirts is a plot of developing homes.
They look nothing out of the ordinary. But you can't judge a book by its cover, or a journey by where something is now.
7 miles away a group of workers uproot a home. It's one of several on its way out of the neighborhood. Interstate 35 is expanding, and going right through the heart of Troy. Jerry Hicks, a Troy property owner, remembers when he learned one of his rentals would go.
"At first it was like ahh, I just can't, I just hate to see that happen, but I don't know what I am gonna' do about it," said Hicks.
The easy way out was to just take the state's buyout and leave. But he had a better idea.
"See what the feasibility was of moving the house," said Hicks.
And he's not the only one. The Ramirez family has 40 family members living in 8 houses along the highway. They're moving four of them back 400 yards, creating a new subdivision.
"Nothing will ever get in the way of family," said Robert Zaragoza, who married into the family.
"It's really important, because we've all been here so long, this is the only home I've ever known," said Zaragoza's 22-year-old-sister-in-law Mary Ann Garcia.
So far 5 houses in Troy are now moved to safety. Ten more, including the Ramirez's, are planned in the coming months.
It's kind of a roundabout process, but this is how it works. The state buys the property at a blanket price. Then it gives the owner the opportunity to buy back any improvements on it, such as a fence, or even a house. But the catch is, it's up to the owner to figure out how to get it out of here.
501 and 419 Church Street now have new addresses and a new life.
The families are together.
"They're there when we need them, and they're right next store," said Zaragoza.
Reporter/Photographer: Joshua Skurnik
