Most of the City Council members are distressed at how many arterials and neighborhood streets they have which are seriously in need of repair.  They are also distressed at how little money they have been allocated in this bond package to deal with those needs - as are we.

Out of a bond package of $150 million, $81 million is allocated for arterials (to address a citywide need of $635.7 million in potential projects) and just $33 million is allocated to neighborhood streets to address a citywide need of $335.3 million.  BUT, in the category of bridges, out of a need for $35 million, a whopping $22.2 million is being allocated. 

So, for neighborhood street reconstruction (a CRYING need citywide), we will get less than 10% of the need met with this bond issue.  For arterials, we will get more than 10% of the need met, but for bridges we will get 62% of the need met.  The $22.2 million is for 3 bridges ($12 million for reconstruction of the West 7th street bridge and $10.2 million for 2 NEW bridges for the Trinity River Vision (TRV) Uptown project), it becomes clear that Council could easily take the $10.2 million for the TRV bridges and shift it to neighborhood street reconstruction.

Many bond package projects are approved far in advance of when they are actually built -- for instance, the E. 1st street widening was first approved in a 1986 bond issue, but the project has yet to be started.  So, why not put the TRV bridges off into the future with the rest of that project and spend that extra $10.2 million on Fort Worth streets now?

We encourage you to attend the public meetings and express your opinion on the way the money is being earmarked. the city council is asking for your input. Please send a rep from your NA to be the voice for your group.

For a complete look at the Bond Program, click here.