46 replies to this topic

[eastsider]

Fort Worth has developed a plan to create more useable waterfront on the banks of the Trinity River for housing, retail, and recreation. The plan calls for digging another river channel along with moving levees to create a lake just north of the downtown area. The Trinity River Vision website has alot of info about the project.





This article is about the cost of the project.

This article is about the economic impact of the plan. Some new development is already happening along the riverfront. These include:

The Radioshack headquarters campus.



The recenty opened Pier 1 headquarters building.



Tarrant County Collage is plannig to open its 5th campus on both sides of the river with a sky bridge connecting the two. The campus is expected to cost $135 million and is targeted to open in September 2008.

[Spartan]

That is a very extensive plan. I like it. It reminds me of a European city. Is this plan actually going to happen or is it more of a conceptual thing?

[bobliocatt]

This is, without doubt, a very ambitious plan. It will be interesting to see if its actually completed.

[eastsider]

Work on the river channel has already began.

[eastsider]

A developer is proposing the a 35-acre urban village that will link the minor league ballpark "LaGrave Field" (opened in 2002) to new developments on the north side of the Trinity River. The whole project could take up to 18 years to complete, but the first residential portions could open as soon as 2008 when the new Tarrant County College campus is scheduled to open.

Quote

North-side developers are proposing a $500 million complex of town houses, offices, stores and parks to link LaGrave Field with the future home of Tarrant County College along the Trinity River.

Dubbed Cats' Island, the urban village is proposed for 35 acres of vacant city-owned land that could also include a museum featuring former Fort Worth Cats player and manager Bobby Bragan's sports memorabilia.

"We've been waiting for the right time and the right way to do this," said Carl Bell, the owner of the minor-league Cats baseball team based at LaGrave Field and a partner in the proposed project. "We want this ballpark and development to be a legacy."

Full story here.

[eastsider]

Trinity Bluffs 40 acres - $300 million development

Included in this project are shopping, tennis facilities, marina, and a 12 story building. Aslo in Trinity Bluffs are the Cassidy Corner and Pecan Place Condominiums which were both completed in the last few years.

[Spades]

This is a great plan. Both Dallas and Fort Worth have plans on this river. But FWs plan is the best and I hope this all happens.

[eastsider]

I agree with you Spades that Fort Worth's plan is the much better, although I must say that I really like the Calatrava bridges proposed in Dallas.

Maybe I'll get around to putting a thread together about Dallas' Trinity River projects one of these days.

[eastsider]

Great article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram discussing the necessity of Trinity River Vision Plan in terms of flood control. The Army Corps of Engineers is expected to release a study this week saying work to the existing levees can be done for $10 million. Meanwhile, all of the projects for the Trinity Plan are estimated to cost around $435 million. Under the plan levees would be removed and a 1-1/2 mile long bypass channel would be built to divert flood waters. Propponents of the plan say removing the levees would reconnect the city to the river and bring in more than a billion dollars worth of developments. The whole project is expected to take 10 years to complete with work begining next year on three bridges that would span the future channel.
Some of the projects and their cost:
$100 miliion for digging the new channel and gates to redirect the water
$165 million for bridges over the future channel
$64 million to build a dam to create a 33-acre lake

Full article: http://www.dfw.com/m...al/11877767.htm

[I-275westcoastflorida]

That would be the best looking area in the DFW if built considering the area around downtown is rund down houses and and industrial ghetto.

[rantanamo]

The plan is great, but they seem to be having the same funding problems as Dallas. The timetable is much longer than the Dallas plan, which hopes to have the park, parkway and bridges all open by 2010.

The Dallas and Fort Worth plans are hardly comparable though everyone wants to compare them. The Fort Worth plan would be only one part of the Dallas plan, which is absolutely a huge, huge swath of land. The park itself could swallow Central Park twice. It also includes rezoning and redevelopment of several shore areas, entry and access ways to the Great Trinity Forest as well as tourism to it and incredible flood control. We are talking about zoning similar to the FW plan in places, and extension of the CBD zoning area west to the river. The lakes will be similar in execution to White Rock complete with nature areas, marinas and even amusements like softball and soccer complexes, a white water park, and perhaps even waterparks. One part of Dallas' plan that I never see mentioned anywhere is the Trinity Meander, which is where the original Trinity curves and sways up near the Maket Center area. Water will be channeled through this meander similarly to the Riverwalk in SA. Considering its the entryway to Turtle Creek expect nothing but upscale. Both plans are very similar down to requiring significant zoning change. That area as well as Industrial Blvd just north of Woodall Rodgers, got the change this spring, and the Crows(who own most of the land) are looking for mixed use developers right now. Nothing may happen, but hopefully things do.

As I said, the plans aren't even that comparable. They are as different as the Trinity is when it passes through each city.

[eastsider]

The Trinity River Vision has updated their website that includes new images and graphics. Below is a link to the Uptown page that has a map at the bottom of the page showing the placement of the future lake/canals and the location of existing projects such as the Pier 1 Headquarters and RadioShack Headquarters campus, and future projects such as TCC campus and Trinity Bluffs.

http://www.trinityri...ownOverview.asp

[eastsider]

This is an editorial from this past weekends Dallas Morning News comparing the Fort Worth and Dallas Trinity River Plans.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...w.8df102b0.html

[eastsider]

Fort Worth received $12.8M from the transportation bill that was passed by Congress yesterday to be used for the design and construction of two bridges that will span the future bypass channel that will be built as part of the Trinity Uptown plan.

Quote

But U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, one of the project's chief supporters, had asked for $16 million for the bridges, which will be needed to span a 1 1/2-mile bypass channel designed to carry floodwaters away from the project site.

Officials with the Tarrant Regional Water District, which is spearheading the project, say the $3.2 million shortfall is insignificant compared to Trinity Uptown's $435 million overall price tag.

The two bridges on Main and Henderson streets, plus a third, are planned to be completed in 2009.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: $12.8 million awarded to project by Congress

[eastsider]

The TXU power plant located on the Trinity River at Main Street is set to be imploded. The new downtown campus of Tarrant County College will be built in its place. TCC has not said if the large boiler room (which will remain) will be used as part of the campus, or if it will be used for another use. The first building of the new campus are scheduled to open in 2008.

Quote

The boiler room, a large building that is approximately parallel to North Main Street, will remain. But the rest of the plant, including the smokestacks and a cooling tower, will be imploded.

The implosion was scheduled for Sunday but has been delayed because of scheduling conflicts by the contractor, TXU officials said.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Decked Stacks

[eastsider]

Demolition took place yesterday on the old TXU Power station, the site will be the future home of the Tarrant County College downtown campus.

Quote

With sharp blasts, explosive charges downed one 256-foot-tall chimney at the closed TXU Power generating station on North Main Street about 8 a.m., as well as a large boiler unit near the stack.

A few minutes later the older, 322-foot chimney also fell on its side, shaking the ground as it shattered.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: 2 smokestacks cleared

Edited by eastsider, 05 September 2005 - 02:45 PM.

[eastsider]

The Fort Worth City Council has accepted two grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development worth $1.5M. The first $719,200 grant will go for land aquisition and the other $804,735 grant is for design plans.

Quote

City Planning Director Fernando Costa said he doesn't know which properties will be bought with these funds.

But he said planners cannot go forward with the purchase of properties for the bypass channel until federal environmental clearance of the project comes through. That could come as soon as next month, he said.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: City to get $1.5 million for Trinity River Vision

[eastsider]

The Trinity River Plan has won a national award from the Waterfront Center.

Quote

"This plan ... is an exemplary piece of design emphasizing several elements of urban redevelopment - environmental restoration, transportation planning, parks and school facilities - that reflect the complexity of and responsiveness to urban waterfront opportunities," the judges wrote.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Project wins national award

[eastsider]

The Trinity River Plan has been reccommended for approval by federal regulators that could allow for construction of the channels to begin, possibly later this year.

Quote

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday released the results of a two-year study that recommends moving forward with the proposal to rechannel the Trinity River north of downtown. Based on that recommendation, the corps in Washington is expected to formally approve the project next month after a 30-day public review.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Trinity Uptown project gets federal OK

[eastsider]

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to give approval to the Trinity River Project in downtown Fort Worth within the next two weeks. Once the approval comes, final design and engineering work can be done.

Quote

The first step after delivering final design and engineering for the project will be property acquisition. That will begin immediately once the TRWD determines how much land will be needed for the bridges and road portion of the project.

Following property acquisition, road and bridge work will begin a soon as possible on the Henderson Street bridge, the White Settlement bridge and the Main Street bridge and the roads near the bridges. The bridge work should be completed by 2009. After the road and bridge projects, work will begin on the bypass channels, which will be about 1 1/2 miles long and 300 feet wide. The channels should be complete by 2012, according to Oliver.

Fort Worth Business Press: Will the Trinity River project come to pass?