Honkin' Mad

Southeast Fort Worth advocates hope new transit center is more than a glorified bus stop

@gdickson

Beginning Thursday, four bus routes with nearly 800,000 combined riders annually will serve the new Sierra Vista Transit Center.

But southeast Fort Worth advocates hope the new facility at East Berry Street and Riverside Drive is much more than a glorified bus stop.

Instead, their goal is for the $500,000 transit center - paid for mostly with a federal grant - to become the centerpiece of a grander plan to convert the worn-down sector of Fort Worth into an urban village.

 "There's still a way to go on that, but with this transit center and opening of a Wal-Mart up the street we're starting to get that synergy going," Allen Smith, executive director of Southeast Fort Worth Inc., said Wednesday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new center. "There's a great need in this area."

The Berry/Riverside neighborhood is one of about 16 areas identified by city officials as an urban village. The long-term goal is to create transit and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods with a mix of commercial and residential uses that is attractive to developers.

Berry/Riverside has a lot going for it - including its geography. It rests just below the Rolling Hills neighborhood, with Cobb Park nearby and plenty of vacant land available for whatever uses might be suitable - perhaps another grocery store, a pharmacy, clothing shop or restaurants and family entertainment.

A developer, Vertex Asset Partners, L.P., plans to redevelop the former Oak Brook Mall site across the street from the transit center into modernized retail development, according to information on the city's urban village page.

But it's also a neighborhood that more than its share of run-down buildings - and a reputation, deserved or not, for crime and vagrancy.

"We certainly have the challenge of bringing in small businesses that can stay," said Andre McEwing, board secretary of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, also known as the T, and a long-time advocate for the area. "This community needs basic services."

But with Thursday's first official full day of service at the new Sierra Vista Transit Center, bringing foot traffic to the area shouldn't be a problem.

The area will be served by four bus routes, T president Dick Ruddell said. They include: Route 3 Riverside/TCC South campus; Route 5 Wichita/Glen Garden; Route 8 Riverside/Evans; and Route 24 Berry St.

Those four routes carry a combined 775,000 riders per year, T spokeswoman Joan Hunter said.

The bus transfers now to take place at the Sierra Vista Transit Center previously were handled at various stops along Riverside Drive, between Glen Garden and Berry, she said.

The plaza was partially funded by a $400,000 federal grant administered by the North Central Texas Council of Governments. Also, in 2006, Berry/Riverside urban village received an $823,571 federal grant to master plan the area and make street improvements along East Berry Street between Yuma and Sycamore Creek.

The Sierra Vista Transit Center will feature numerous pieces of public art, some of which are scheduled to be installed later in the year. The place also features a marker in memory of Monique Pegues, the T's longtime government affairs director who died unexpectedly in 2010.

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Texans driving way too fast in work zones, officials say

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One particularly heart-tugging image seen in some highway work zones is an orange sign bearing the message: "Please slow down. My dad works here."

But while that sign appeals for the safety of highway workers, in reality four of every five people killed in a work zone is a motorist.

"We want the public to crank up their awareness," said Lonny Haschel, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman.

Haschel joined officials from the North Texas Tollway Authority and Texas Department of Transportation on Tuesday at a work zone site along Interstate 20. Speaking on a newly built bridge over the interstate, the group called for motorists to bear greater responsibility for their actions on the road.

"There is over $11 billion in construction in the North Texas area, with more on the way," said Brian Barth, Fort Worth deputy district engineer for the state transportation department. "Your daily commute to work and school is changing on a daily basis and we need every driver to stay alert."

Work zone fatalities have fallen 39 percent during the past decade, said Elizabeth Mow, tollway authority assistant executive director of infrastructure.

Still, last year 134 people were killed statewide in work zone crashes.

"We need the public's help to complete the picture," Mow said.

Speeding and driver inattention are the leading causes of work zone fatalities, Haschel said.

Distractions such as talking or texting on a mobile device are also a major problem, Barth said.

National Work Zone Safety Awareness week is this week. The groups chose Tuesday's site for their press conference because it is part of the Chisholm Trail Parkway project, a 28-mile toll road from downtown Fort Worth to Cleburne that is scheduled to open next year.

The Chisholm Trail Parkway project has created work zones across a swath of southwestern Tarrant County, crossing Interstate 30, I-20, Hulen Street and Texas 183 (Southwest Boulevard).

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Weatherford St. bridge implosion rattles nerves in Fort Worth, Arlington

@gdickson

Susan Geissler was in the shower Monday night when a loud boom nearly knocked her to the floor. Later, she found out the blast was the result of a planned demolition nearly three miles away. The Texas Department of Transportation on Monday night demolished the old Weatherford Street bridge on the eastern edge of downtown Fort Worth – creating a blast that shook windows and rattled nerves as far away as Arlington.

“This whole bridge blowing up business would have been a good thing to know before I got into the shower,” Geissler, who lives in the historic Fairmount area southwest of downtown, posted on her Facebook page. “I thought the world was ending and I was going into it without any clothes on. Which is totally something that would happen to me.”

Reached Tuesday by phone, Geissler, owner of Manifesto Marketing, added that if she had known about the planned demolition she would have tried to get close to the old bridge site and watch it. Geissler said she watched the 2006 implosion of the Landmark Tower downtown.

But officials at the transportation department acknowledged that they purposefully kept the demolition of the Weatherford Street bridge a bit on the down-low, to avoid attracting gawkers to the blast site. As a result, many residents not only in Fort Worth’s city center, but also east Fort Worth and Arlington, were stunned by the noise and vibration of the blast, which occurred about 10:20 p.m.

Fort Worth 911 operators were overwhelmed with calls. “They’re jamming our lines right now,” police Capt. Kevin Rodricks said Monday night.

Despite the jolt to the community, the demolition was considered a success, transportation department officials said. On Tuesday afternoon, workers were still removing debris, but most roads on the east side of downtown were open to traffic. Only Gilvin Street directly below the bridge site remained closed to through traffic.

“The amount of explosives used was the proper amount to get the job done,” said transportation department spokesman Val Lopez. “The whole point of the exercise was to demolish the old bridge without damaging the new bridge. Demolishing it using traditional methods like giant jack hammers actually would have exposed it to additional damage by debris.”

The agency and its contractors also took into account variables such as weather, Lopez said. “Lots of factors go into how far sound travels,” he said. “If there was going to be cloud cover, they were going to affect the demolition. There was a potential there to cause damage to windows. But it was a relatively clear night, which means the pressure would dissipate quickly.”

Before the blast, agency spokeswoman Jodi Hodges had said: “There may be some small explosives, but we’re not advertising that to the world. It’s very controlled and very minor. We’ve certainly talked with all the local fire department and police and all that, but mostly it’s just demolishing that bridge and hauling off the debris.”

The bridge demolition is one of two projects that may have downtown-area motorists feeling a bit hemmed in these days.

On the west side of downtown, Forest Park Boulevard will be closed for up to nine more at West Seventh Street as workers begin digging column shafts for the planned new West Seventh Street bridge. Some of the early work involves digging shafts for the new bridge columns -- an effort that requires heavy machinery on or near Forest Park. The road could be closed through March 27 and again April 3-12. Motorists are urged to find alternate routes between downtown and neighborhoods such as Berkeley Place, but those who stay on Forest Park will be detoured to West Fifth Street, West 10th Street and Penn Street. On Weatherford Street, the demolition now allows crews to complete construction of the new Weatherford Street bridge by the fall, officials said. The project includes reconstruction of the bridge itself, approaches, a new southbound exit ramp to I-35W, an extended deceleration lane, retaining walls and better drainage and lighting.

Staff Writer Bill Miller contributed to this report.

Gordon Dickson, 817-390-7796 Twitter: @gdickson

Traffic switch scheduled Tuesday night at TX 183/I-20 for Chisholm Trail Parkway

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Motorists can expect detours Tuesday night and early Wednesday in the Texas 183/Interstate 20 corridor, where an interchange for the planned Chisholm Trail Parkway toll road is under construction.

The affected area includes eastbound 183 - also known as Southwest Boulevard - from Crossland Plaza to Hulen Street, and the Bryant Irvin Road on-ramp to eastbound Texas 183. The switch is scheduled between 9 p.m. Tuesday and 5 a.m. Wednesday.

During the switch, eastbound Texas 183 traffic will be detoured to eastbound I-20 via Bryant Irvin Road. The Bryant Irvin Road entrance ramp to eastbound Texas 183 will be closed until a new, permanent ramp is completed in the spring.

Traffic must be moved so the permanent lanes in the area can be completed, Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Val Lopez said.

@gdickson

Catholic Charities hits road with new bus - aims to reach needy far outside, and deep within, Fort Worth

@gdickson

Catholic Charities of Fort Worth is continuing down the road of becoming one of the region's preeminent providers of services for the needy. On Monday, the agency unveiled its newest tool - a shiny, new customized bus that will be used to take financial counseling, English classes and other services to residents far outside the city.

"They'll be reaching out to a whole new demographic," said U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, one of several dignitaries to speak before the unveiling of the new bus at the agency's headquarters south of West Seminary Drive.

The bus, which cost about $200,000, was paid for by a donation from Atmos Energy. John Paris, president of Atmos' Mid-Tex division, also presented Catholic Charities with a check for $25,000, and he asked the agency to use the funds to help needy people pay their gas bills.

"We're talking about families that can't even find the money to fuel a car, or take a bus to Fort Worth to apply for a job," Paris said.

Texas has the seventh highest poverty rate in the United States, and 14 percent of Tarrant County residents live in poverty, said Mary Goosens, Catholic Charities vice president and chief financial officer.

"The people we serve want a way out of poverty," Goosens said. The bus has desk space and will serve as a mobile office, where agency workers and clients can discuss job applications while their children stay occupied by playing table games. It will also help agency workers reach out to Fort Worth's large homeless population - estimated at more than 2,000 people - by traveling into the dark corners of the streets rather than waiting for them to arrive in shelters, she said.

Photo (at right: Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price gets a tour of a new bus paid for by Atmos Energy. The bus will be used by Catholic Charities of Fort Worth to take its services to the needy. - Gordon Dickson

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New Texas road with 85 mph speed limit opening Wed., Oct. 24

Get ready to rev those cars and trucks to 85 mph. Check out this video of Seguin, Texas Mayor Betty Ann Matthies announcing that the new Segments 5 and 6 of State Highway 130 from Austin to Seguin will open Wednesday, Oct. 24 - and motorists will be allowed to use the road for free until Nov. 10.

What's it like traveling I-35? TxDot wants to hear from you.

@gdickson

Long stretches of Interstate 35 in central Texas are under construction, and the Texas Department of Transportation wants to know if you're getting the information you need about the project. Wanna give 'em an earful? (Or least a questionairre-full?) Check out the survey being conducted by Texas A&M Transportation Institute at my35survey.org.

Five years after I-35W collapse, bridges still crumbling

Tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse that killed 13 people and injured 145 in Minnesota. With that in mind, I thought I'd repost a story I did back in January revealing poor conditions on 29 Fort Worth area bridges. Despite all the attention drawn to the nation's crumbling infrastructure after the Aug. 1, 2007 tragedy up north, many bridges that are in even worse shape than the I-35W crossing are still being neglected. Here's that story. If you have time, please also click on the link to the video I shot of an actual bridge inspection in Fort Worth.

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Tomorrowland meets Texas - Futuristic freight system planned for I-35 corridor

@gdickson

Freight normally hauled by trucks could one day soon be shipped on an electric-powered, overhead guideway across Texas. It may seem like an idea more suitable for Tomorrowland – and artist renderings of the project do resemble Disney’s famed monorail system – but Texas officials are encouraging a privately-funded business to get the project up and running, perhaps within six years.

"We think it’s happening at just the right time in our country,” said Stephen Roop, an assistant director at Texas A&M University’s Texas Transportation Institute, and developer of the so-called Freight Shuttle concept. “It can operate in the air space of a highway median.”

Roop and his colleagues have formed Freight Shuttle International, a company that is cobbling together the estimated $2.5 billion needed to build the first leg of this futuristic transportation system. The guideways would be built within the existing right-of-way of Interstate 35, initially stretching about 250 miles from San Antonio to Waxahachie – but eventually extending north through Dallas-Fort Worth, and south to the Mexican border. Ultimately, Freight Shuttle guideways could be built on more than 2,000 miles of highway right-of-way across the state, he said.

The system would haul cargo of various sizes, packed in both intermodal containers and freight trailers. Terminals would be built at each end of the route, so that trucks could load and off-load their goods onto the Freight Shuttle guideways. The shipments would be placed on unmanned transporters powered by linear induction motors using electricity and a magnetic field. They would glide on steel wheels across the guideways at about 60 mph, Roop told members of the Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition during a meeting Wednesday in Fort Worth.

Shippers would be able to get their goods across the state for pennies on the dollar compared to what it costs to haul freight in tractor-trailers, said Ken Allen, a retired logistics executive for grocery giant H-E-B Stores and chief executive officer of Freight Shuttle International’s operations unit. “We estimate it would be 25 percent cheaper than a very efficient trucking operation,” Allen said. For consumers, Allen added, “It probably amounts to a savings of 4 to 5 cents for a gallon of milk, and H-E-B sells probably three million gallons a week.”

The Texas Department of Transportation last year quietly put out a request for qualifications for the project. Six firms initially responded with a proposal for moving freight across the state without clogging up freeway lanes, but Freight Shuttle International emerged from the competition as the lone qualified candidate. The transportation department is close to approving a reservation of right-of-way agreement that would give Freight Shuttle International first dibs on the project. That document would give the company three years to arrange its financing and conduct an environmental study, Roop said. Another three years would be needed for construction, he said. Most of the work could be done in highway median space with minimal traffic disruptions.

The prospect of reducing truck traffic on the I-35 corridor excited several members of the Tarrant Regional Transportation Coalition. Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said he could envision moving people on trains in the highway right-of-way, too, instead of relying on railroad tracks owned and controlled by freight companies. “That right-of-way above the interstate is something that is beginning to be more attractive, especially given our negotiations with Union Pacific,” Whitley said. “If that would be possible, especially inside urban areas, that would be very intriguing along certain routes like LBJ, I-30 and I-20.”

Texas not ready for bigger ships coming through Panama Canal

Texas and other Gulf states are scrambling to take advantage of a potential increase in freight shipments across their borders after a Panama Canal expansion is completed in 2014.

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