- Trinity Uptown - Riverwalk with stores and living spaces
- Gateway Park Improvement Plan - Massive ecosystem and recreation project to create one of the largest urban programmed parks in the nation
- TRV Experience - Walking trails and parties on the river
The Trinity River Project got started when the citizens said they wanted a waterfront with better access to the river and recreation like the Riverwalk in San Antonio. We have a river that runs straight through downtown Fort Worth but due to the levee systems there isn't much access directly to the waterway. The trails surrounding the river are actually becoming too congested due to the amount of people running on a daily basis. The current three story federal levees were built by the Army Corps of Engineers after the flood of 1949 that occurred because the city only had a local levee system.
Currently, the amount of concrete in areas surrounding the Trinity River is causing rain water to fill the river very quickly which threatens flooding in the area. The Corps of Engineers worked with the city and wanted to find a better solution to this problem so instead of just making the levees taller, the city decided to create an alternative solution that would reduce flooding and give the community a more interactive area with access to shopping, food, and living spaces. At this point the area has a great deal of abandoned commercial buildings and environmental contamination that needs some infrastructure improvements. Like the riverwalk created in San Antonio, Fort Worth will be creating an alternative river route by installing a new man made bypass channel with a gating system. This eliminates the need for the current levees and the city will be able to build right up to the waterway. New construction will include the bypass channel, three new bridges at Main Street, Henderson, and White Settlement, as well as three gates and a dam to control water flow. This way, the area will come out of the flood plane and makes the entire area developable.The project will not be complete until 2021 but construction of the three bridges and various infrastructure changes are currently underway (including a new drive in theater!). In order to get the community excited about the Trinity River Vision, the TRA is hosting a free concert series called "Rockin the River" where people are invited to come out and tube on the river while listening to live music. They are also hosting 4th of July parties that have received an overwhelming amount of attention from the community. Both of these initiatives have been extremely popular and the city is expecting a large increase in participation this summer.
The entire area is being set up as "mixed use" so that people can live, work, shop, and eat in the various buildings that will be constructed. It is estimated that 16,000 permanent jobs will be created, 600 construction jobs will be available per year, there will be over 10,000 new affordable living spaces, and miles of privately developeable water ways. Personally I can't wait until this area is complete! It is going to be a game changer for Fort Worth and will undoubtedly make us the envy of every other city in Texas. The plans look amazing and the TRA's adaptive reuse of the buildings in the area is and their plans to make the new construction sustainable is inspiring. Fort Worth has just recently started to show great promise in the area of sustainability and this project will definitely show the community that the city is changing for the better.
For more photos of the TRA and the Trinity River Vision please visit my photo page.
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