Kirk urges patience on Trinity projects
Lake, trail construction could start by 2000; mayor encourages patience
The Dallas Morning News
May 13, 1998
Author: Robert Ingrassia

Anyone eager to start driving, jogging and picnicking along the Trinity River in Dallas should just relax awhile. Residents and business owners in southern Dallas awaiting flood protection may need to show some patience, too.

The city's Trinity River plan, which cleared a political hurdle with a narrow victory at the polls May 2, must get past financial, environmental and engineering obstacles in the coming years before dirt can start flying.

Crews could begin building a lake and trails along the river within two years. But construction of a toll road and a series of levees and wetlands in southern Dallas - the plan's costliest and most complex parts - won't get under way until 2002 at the earliest, city officials said.

"I would urge citizens to understand that this is a 10-year project and it won't be done overnight," Mayor Ron Kirk said.

Each of the plan's components - toll road, levees, freeway projects, lakes, trails and southeast Dallas forest preserve - must undergo varying degrees of environmental study and engineering before construction can begin.

Officials said they don't foresee any "show-stoppers" among the project's many unresolved issues. But serious and potentially controversial questions remain. Among the issues to be tackled by the end of the year:

* Will the toll road be a 60-mph highway with few on- and off-ramps or a quieter 45-mph parkway with plenty of access?

* Will the federal government and the city buy and preserve forest land in southeast Dallas or send their preservation dollars outside the city?

* How big will the downtown lake be and when will the city build it?

Dallas voters approved a $246 million Trinity bond proposition by 51.6 percent to 48.4 percent on May 2. The city plans to borrow the money during the next 10 years to pay for its share of a $1.2 billion plan to develop the Trinity corridor and improve downtown freeways.

Mr. Kirk, who campaigned aggressively for the river proposition's passage, said residents should view unanswered questions about the project as an opportunity to help answer them.

"I would urge everyone to stay aware of what's going on," Mr. Kirk said. "There will be many opportunities for public input on everything from the design of the parks and toll roads to the flood--protection improvements and the recreational lakes."

One of the river proposition's top opponents said the city should have delayed the referendum until key issues were resolved.

"They could have waited one measly little year, and we would've had many more answers," said Mary Vogelson, a member of the League of Women Voters of Dallas, which opposed the river plan.

Here's a look at the planning that's going into each of the river plan's major components:

Trinity Parkway

People who pay money to drive on a road want to go fast. That fact could play a big role in shaping the Trinity Parkway, a proposed 10-mile toll road that would stretch from State Highway 183 to U.S. 175.

Officials have proposed posting a 45-mph speed limit and banning trucks on the new road. They also have promised that the highway will have plenty of on- and offramps leading to parks along the river and nearby commercial areas.

But the city's goal of building a quiet parkway instead of a noisy freeway could clash with the financial reality of toll roads.

Officials said a consultant's report due out in late June could show that a slower toll road with lots of ramps and a truck ban won't make enough money to cover construction costs.

"I have always believed that this roadway needs to operate at 60 mph like other limited-access roadways in order to be financially feasible," said Dallas County Judge Lee Jackson, a North Texas Tollway Authority board member.

The road is expected to cost nearly $400 million, including an $84 million bond issue Dallas voters approved May 2. Plans call for the tollway authority and the Texas Department of Transportation to pay the rest.

The tollway authority, which plans to pay off its construction loans with the road's income, could have trouble raising enough money unless the toll road's speed limit is 60 mph, Mr. Jackson said.

James McCarley, the agency's interim executive director, said any funding gap could be overcome with special loans and other financing tools, similar to those used to pay for the President George Bush Highway under construction in Dallas' northern suburbs.

"Just because there's a gap doesn't mean it's not a doable project," Mr. McCarley said.

Mr. Kirk declined to say whether he will press for a 45-mph speed limit and a truck ban.

"If we can somehow find an acceptable compromise between the need to have a toll road and our dream to have a parkway setting that doesn't hamper the recreational area we're trying to create, I'll be happy," he said.

Later this summer, officials from the city, state and tollway authority plan to hammer out a three-way agreement to pay for construction. An environmental study expected to take two years will follow.

The Trinity Parkway is a key part of a $1 billion plan to overhaul downtown freeways. A state plan to make over the mixmaster, canyon and lower Stemmons area and construct new high-occupancy-vehicle lanes is set for completion in 2013.

Floodway extension

The city plans to team with the Army Corps of Engineers to extend the city's levee system into southern Dallas. The $127 million project is to include levees on both sides of the river and a chain of wetlands (a series of marshy depressions near the river).

The Corps of Engineers released a draft of an environmental impact statement last month. In it, corps officials in Fort Worth made a case to their bosses in Washington for why the federal government should help Dallas pay for the project.

One of the unresolved issues in the report centers on environmental "mitigation," or the government's purchase of undeveloped land to offset damage to natural habitats caused during the construction of the levees and wetlands.

City officials have said they hope to team with the Corps of Engineers to buy hundreds of acres of forest in southeast Dallas. Such a purchase would let the city meet federal preservation rules while making headway on the creation of a Great Trinity Forest park.

But under federal law, the purchase does not have to be in Dallas, and the Corps of Engineers is considering buying land where property is cheaper. A site under consideration in Anderson County would cost $1.8 million while the southeast Dallas site would cost $3.8 million, according to the draft report.

The city, which will split the cost of the land with the Corps of Engineers, would be required to maintain the nature preserve, even if it is outside Dallas. For the Anderson County site, the city could get stuck with bills of at least $175,000 a year, the report states.

If the city wants land bought in Dallas, the corps could require the city to pay for the difference in cost, corps officials said. The river bonds would allow the city to do that, said Peter Vargas, the city's Trinity River project director.

"We have the resources to do what the city wants to do," Mr. Vargas said.

Corps of Engineers officials also have raised questions about the federal government helping pay for trails and other recreational features within the floodway.

"The Corps of Engineers is not in the recreation business. It's something we add on to projects," said Gene Rice, a corps project manager. "We're pushed to minimize the amount of recreation as much as possible."

Mr. Vargas said city officials will continue negotiating with the Corps of Engineers regarding money for recreation and the forest preserve.

One issue with no wiggle room for the city is hazardous-waste cleanup. Federal law clearly dictates that the city must pay for any cleanup.

The Corps of Engineers study states that the city must spend $1.6 million to clean part of a closed landfill south of downtown. Mr. Vargas said money for that project is included in the bond program. Several studies have not found other hazardous waste, he said.

The Corps of Engineers plans to open a 45-day public-comment period on the draft report May 15. Corps officials in Washington, D.C., are expected to sign the final report by the end of the year.

The final report will determine how much the Corps of Engineers plans to contribute to the floodway extension. The corps then will go to Congress each year for money to pay for design and construction.

Lakes

The river proposition includes $31.5 million to construct a lake or lakes near downtown. It also includes $41.8 million to buy land in the Great Trinity Forest in southeast Dallas and build trails, canoe launches and other facilities.

This summer or fall, the City Council must decide whether the city should build a small lake that could open as early as 2001 or construct a larger lake that would have to wait until 2003 or later.

Mr. Kirk has said he wants to spark residents' excitement about the Trinity by opening a lake as soon as possible.

"As important as the flood control and the transportation needs are, what excites people about this project is the potential for lakes and a greenbelt," Mr. Kirk said.

City officials told the council in February that within about two years, the city could unveil a 33-acre lake (about a third the size of Bachman Lake). A larger lake of 70 to 100 acres - or a pair of lakes - would have to wait several more years until the toll road is designed, officials said.