Posts under ‘Transit & Infrastructure’

Nifty article in the Fort Worth Business Press about Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. getting Washington Post columnist Neil Peirce to come to town to advocate for the city’s streetcar efforts.
What better time for Downtown Fort Worth Inc. to recruit worldwide traveler and journalist Neal Peirce to speak to one poignant point at its regular organization [...]

I attended the Fort Worth South, Inc. presentation yesterday evening on the proposed re-striping of Magnolia Avenue to feature fewer traffic lanes and create dedicated bike lanes. As I expected, there were both supporters and opponents in attendance. What I was pleasantly surprised at was the very strong showing of supporters at the [...]

The streetcar effort is picking up steam, and is starting to get more coverage in the local media (besides here, that is, where I’ve been writing about this for over a year now). The latest bit of coverage is over at the Weekly’s unfortunately named blog, Blotch, where Gayle Reaves passes along this bit [...]

It worries me somewhat that Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley has been placed on the streetcar study committee, when he has shown that he simply does not understand urban transportation. Case in point - this recent Star-Telegram article on the reworking of East Rosedale:
County Judge Glen Whitley and Commissioner Gary Fickes said the bond [...]

Refreshing honesty from TxDOT. I’ll have to remember this link the next time somebody blasts me for supporting transit and its “endless subsidies” over roads that “pay for themselves” with gas taxes:
Applying this methodology, revealed that no road pays for itself in gas taxes and fees. For example, in Houston, the 15 miles of [...]

Speaking of the Business Press, here’s a great article from them about a subject I’ve talked about before - the development opportunities that would be opened up by the proposed modern streetcar system: Streetcars open up opportunities for developments. Here’s an excerpt:
If streetcar lines are set up around town, the first locations to [...]

It didn’t get much press, and in fact most of the people I know didn’t even hear about it. Nevertheless, the City Council voted in late May to demolish the 7th Street bridge over the Trinity to replace it with a new bridge which will be able to accommodate the Cultural District line of [...]

Andy at North Texas Historic Transportation was able to get a list of the people selected thus far for the city’s Modern Streetcar Study Committee:
Mayor Appointees
Andy Taft (Chair)
Louise Appleman
Johnny Campbell
Ed Casebier
Marvinell Johnson
Fran McCarthy
Phillip Poole
Council Member Appointees
Dr. Carlos Vasquez (District 2)
Pending (District 3)
Bob Riley (District 4)
Pending (District 5)
Bob Parmelee (District 6)
Bill Cranz (District 7)
Janet Saltsgiver [...]

Over at North Texas Historic Transportation’s web site, they’ve got scans of a 1974 document that shows an old plan to extend the Leonard’s/Tandy Center subway under the rest of downtown, complete with a route and station locations and designs. It’s an interesting bit of Fort Worth transit history that never was.
A Preliminary Engineering [...]

Vintage photo scan by Pete Charlton, provided by Andy Nold
In late 1927, the North Texas Traction Company took delivery of ten of what you see in the vintage photo above - new 1928 Birney Safety Cars. Over the last 80 years, one of these streetcars has led quite the life - and now, thanks [...]

‘Tis true, according to the NCTCOG. This quote stood out a bit to me:
It’s a milestone — the city has more than 700,000 residents for the first time — but it’s tempered by indications that some people are shifting away from buying new homes in outlying neighborhoods and toward apartment rentals in Dallas.
Fort Worth [...]

The proposed modern streetcar circulator for central city Fort Worth has been slowly weaving its way through city corridors, quietly but steadily picking up steam as enthusiasm for the proposal grows. Yesterday morning, Dana Burghdoff of the city’s Planning and Development Department gave a presentation to the city council on the proposal, and Fort [...]

Please join me in welcoming another link to the Fort Worthology blogroll in the sidebar - The Overhead Wire. It’s a blog about transit, and a darn good one - if you’re looking for the latest transit talk, make this a regular on your blog visits.

I’ve had some print copies of the streetcar whitepaper for a few weeks now, and have been handing them out - and now at last I can offer up this digital version of the whitepaper for download! It’s a PDF of about 3.2 MB, and offers everything the printed version does - a description [...]

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to attend a Trinity River Vision meeting being held in conjunction with a broadcast of Biz Radio. I got some updates on the status of various TRV projects, so here’s a little roundup of the current happenings.

One of the highlights for me personally was getting to meet [...]

As I’ve reported over at West & Clear, there will be a meeting at the Handley-Meadowbrook Community Center (Map) on May 1st at 6:00 PM in support of efforts to create a commuter rail line for the east side of town. You can read the actual note from the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber [...]

Yep, video has come to our little Fort Worthology world of milk & photography. I’ve decided to showcase interesting Youtube finds I come across on the subjects of New Urbanism and transit, and here’s the first. This is a nifty video of the Portland, Oregon streetcar system. Why is that interesting? [...]

An expanded look at the Phillis Tilley Bridge is now online at West and Clear.

The new pedestrian bridge over the river, to be built parallel to the Lancaster Avenue bridge, has been named the Phyllis Tilley Memorial Pedestrian Bridge. Tilley was the founder of Streams and Valleys, a group formed in the ’60s to further the beautification of the Trinity.
The bridge, designed by Boston architect Miguel Rosales, is [...]

Samuels Avenue, long pitted & scarred by potholes and cracks, is at long last getting a makeover, to go along with the Trinity Bluff developments. The street is currently ripped up from Bluff Street to well past Nash Elementary, and is being completely rebuilt from the dirt up. What’s been finished thus far [...]

Phillip Poole, of TownSite Company, one of the people behind the current modern streetcar/ultralight rail project gaining momentum here in Fort Worth, was recently on the Design Talk Radio show (available on the Internet or on KTCU radio) chatting with hosts Joe and Tracy Self about the streetcar project. It’s a great, thorough show, [...]

Fort Worth, it’s time to do a little thinking.
I am speaking of the issues of the Southwest Parkway, the proposed streetcar light rail system, and the planned Southwest-to-Northeast rail line. Now, if you’ve read Fort Worthology for any length of time, you probably already know that I come down on the side of rail, [...]

I’ve been lucky enough to get a look at the new light rail proposal being brought before the city council tomorrow, and I’m very impressed. Above is an image I made showing all the proposed routes, based on the maps shown in the presentation. Short-term, the proposal wants to see a line from [...]

Music to my ears, this. From Dan McGraw, in the Fort Worth Weekly:
Next week, the Fort Worth Central City Redevelopment Committee, which deals with issues relating to downtown development and infrastructure, will recommend the city invest in urban light rail. The panel wants Fort Worth to build four “ultra-light-rail” lines, trains that would run [...]

The second half of the Oleander Walk project, which is converting tiny Oleander Street (running parallel between Magnolia and Rosedale) to a beautifully landscaped pedestrian pathway, is now underway. The project has already spurred new development, first with the Texana Townhomes and Fairmount Lofts developments and soon with another phase of Fairmount Lofts and [...]