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The West Fork of the Trinity River will be rerouted and create riverfront development on Panther Island near downtown Fort Worth. (Rodger Mallison | Fort Worth Report)
” data-medium-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DJI_0539_2-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DJI_0539_2-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C439&ssl=1″ tabindex=”0″ role=”button”>Progress on the Central City / Panther Island flood control project appears to be on track despite some hiccups as Fort Worth continues to clear the way for a massive rerouting of the Trinity River. In order to make the long-awaited project a reality, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to build two bypass channels, a north channel and a south channel, to reroute parts of the Trinity River. The move is meant to protect 2,400 acres of Fort Worth property from disastrous flooding while also taking pressure off the city’s aging levee system.Once complete, the channel will create what is known as Panther Island, hundreds of acres in riverwalk development connecting downtown to the Stockyards and Northside neighborhood. But before the Corps of Engineers can build the bypass channels, Fort Worth must first move 14 stormwater, sewer and water utility channels out of their intended path. The Tarrant Regional Water District will reimburse the city on an annual basis, drawing from $250 million in flood control bonds approved by voters in 2018. The water district expects to reimburse the city for about $62 million in utility relocation costs in 2025, according to the agency’s proposed budget. Last year, city officials set a deadline of summer 2024 to finish relocating utilities out of the way of the north bypass channel, with construction in the south channel slated to be completed in fall 2024. City officials said Aug. 22 they are not on track to meet those deadlines, but they expect to still complete their work before the Corps of Engineers needs to begin its own construction work in 2025. The Corps’ ultimate goal is to finish construction of the channels by 2032. Members of the Trinity River Vision Authority, the board tasked with overseeing the Central City flood control project, met Thursday for the first time since February to discuss progress on the project. Kate Beck, who coordinates Central City activities for the Tarrant Regional Water District, told the board that 95% of the north channel’s design was complete in July. She said the rest of the design is expected to be complete by the end of 2024, with a construction contractor decided in mid-2025. For the south bypass channel, Beck said she anticipates the plan to be 60% complete by the spring of 2025 and construction to begin in 2026. Construction crews will also need to close University Drive between Jacksboro Highway and Rockwood Park Drive in order to raise the road out of the flood plain, creating more storage for floodwaters and protecting areas prone to flooding downstream. An announcement on the contractor for that project is coming “any minute,” Beck said. Meanwhile, the water district anticipates spending $85 million on the project this year, according to its budget proposal. About $45 million will go toward a canal system to support stormwater and flood control on the island, while spending hundreds of thousands on consultants and a strategy for selling the water district’s significant land holdings. The budget is subject to the district board’s approval with a vote scheduled for Sept. 17.Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org or @bycecilialenzen. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.