CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A proposal to widen Rossview Road has residents fuming on behalf of Billy and Teresa McCraw, whose home and strawberry ranch would be razed to make room for the project. Friends and neighbors attended a meeting of the Montgomery County Commission on Monday to protest the plan.
According to a release put out by the county, approximately 70 properties that will be affected in some way by this widening project. Under the current preliminary design, three houses would be purchased for demolition, the McCraw property included. It is a joint effort and responsibility between Montgomery County and the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
The entire project is scheduled to need approximately 15.6 acres of new right of way and permanent drainage easements.
‘Don’t let them take our farm’
The McCraws said they heard about the plan at a public meeting Tuesday, March 29, at Rossview Middle School, and they were shocked.
Patricia Loveless, a friend of the McCraws, was one of several people in attendance with signs supporting the Strawberry Ranch.
“This is their home. It’s been their home for generations,” Loveless told Clarksville Now. “They give a lot to the community. They’re hard workers and great people. … Losing your home and losing your farm when you don’t want to and there are other options is just ridiculous.”
Billy McCraw spoke before the commission.
“When I was 14 years old, I bought a farm of 125 acres. That’s where I live now. Last Tuesday, my family went down to the Rossview School and discovered that our home and part of our farm are going to be taken for the widening of Rossview Road. This is not necessary,” McCraw told to commissioners.
“Friday afternoon, I received a call saying that, yes, we are going to take your house, we are going to take a large oak tree that’s 150 years old, we’re going to take 1,500 feet of white fence that leads down to your strawberry ranch, we’re going to take your office where you sell your strawberries. All this is unnecessary. All they have to do is go across the road from where we live. There’s no houses, no buildings, there’s nothing over there. … All I ask is please, don’t let them take our farm.”
McCraw then asked those in support of him, a group taking up the majority of one side of the room, to stand. His comments were met by a round of applause.
County responds
County spokesperson Michelle Newell stressed that these are preliminary plans and that the county engineering team will continue to communicate with affected home owners.
County Mayor Jim Durrett echoed that sentiment on Monday in a statement to Clarksville Now.
“First of all, I totally understand,” Durrett told Clarksville Now. “Our engineer is meeting with (McCraw) I think tomorrow or Wednesday. We’ve already reached out to our engineers and said we need to do something here if we can. I would really like to know who came to see him Friday and said, We’re gonna do this and we’re gonna do that, because I don’t think it was anybody that works for Montgomery County.
In the Friday release, Durrett stressed the need for improvements to Rossview Road.
“This is a complex project. We have the need for more schools in that area of the county but we also know that once the new high school opens, Rossview Road will reach capacity in its current state. The new middle school is opening this August. As part of the school construction, we had to bring utilities to the site. We have a roadway project that is turning a two-lane road into a four-lane road with a center turn lane in preliminary design. There are multiple things happening at the same time. We do not want to spend the time and cost to install a utility this month and turn around in a year to relocate it.”
According to Newell, the planning process will take at least until the end of the year. In the meantime, the McCraws and their neighbors are waiting to see what will happen.
“Never bury a farmer alive. It may come back to haunt you,” Teresa McCraw told Clarksville Now.