Aug 12, 2010 4
By: Kevin Buchanan
A quick note: there’s the new translucent canopy structure Sundance Square installed over the patio at 8.0 in Downtown. Not too bad looking, though I hear it causes something of a greenhouse effect. It’ll allow concerts in the rain while still letting the trees get sunlight.
Jul 8, 2010 5
By: Kevin Buchanan
The city has released some documents from HDR, Inc.’s current planning work on Fort Worth’s modern streetcar system, and one of the documents gives some more depth, information, and details on the potential starter alignments being considered and how they’re being measured. It’s important to note that at this stage of planning, the routes are not set in stone. There are several potential starter routes for the first phase of the modern streetcar system, and each is being evaluated according to a set of criteria. The end result might be one of these lines, or it might be a combination of parts of lines. These answers will come from the study currently underway by HDR, Inc. that is providing a blueprint for our modern streetcar system. This information comes from publicly-available planning documents posted to the City of Fort Worth’s official streetcar project web site, available as a PDF at the following link: DRAFT Technical Memorandum – Alignment Refinement.
The criteria that the potential starter routes are being measured against come from factors in successful streetcar systems in other cities, and the goals and issues that a Fort Worth solution could be designed to address. The criteria are focused on improving the development and mobility situation in Downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods. They reflect the objectives of the project as told to HDR, based on meetings with City of Fort Worth officials and staff, organizations like Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. and Fort Worth South, Inc., and the city’s Modern Streetcar Task Force.
The sort of criteria that these routes are being measured against include:
The following routes are being screened against these criteria. Each is being analyzed as a potential stand-alone Phase 1 of the streetcar system. It’s expected that, once the evaluations are complete, potential combinations of these lines could also emerge as a starter project, but the initial evaluation is of each route alone. Note also that these descriptions are of the starter routes and do not include potential extensions to each route.
You’ll note that most of the lines include several segments that are the same as the other lines. HDR’s plans showcase how the starter lines can build together over time into a network, and how they can share most of the same trackage in Downtown.
Click on the routes for a larger view.
West 7th
The West 7th alignment is 3.0 miles end-to-end. From the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th & Jones, the line heads westbound on 9th to Commerce, where it turns northbound and heads to 6th. At 6th, the line turns westbound on 6th to Cherry, where it makes a slight right to merge from westbound 6th to westbound 7th. The line heads westbound on 7th to Montgomery, where it then heads southbound to Camp Bowie, the terminus of the line. It heads back into Downtown using the same route – northbound on Montgomery, then eastbound on 7th – until it reaches Henderson. At Henderson, the line turns northbound on Henderson, then eastbound on 3rd. After heading eastbound on 3rd, the line turns southbound on Calhoun before turning eastbound on 9th to go one block to the terminus at 9th & Jones at the ITC.
North Main
The North Main alignment is 1.4 miles end-to-end. From the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th & Jones, the line heads westbound on 9th to Commerce, where it turns northbound. It heads northbound on Commerce through Belknap & Weatherford and makes the merge onto North Main past the Tarrant County Courthouse. The line crosses the Paddock Viaduct (North Main bridge) where it is then envisioned that it would be integrated into the Trinity Uptown master plan. One option, shown here, would have the line turn onto a reconstructed Commerce and head north before turning westbound on NE 6th and then southbound on North Main to head back to Downtown. Once across the Paddock Viaduct, the line would merge from the bridge onto southbound Houston and continue southbound to 3rd, where it would turn eastbound and head to Calhoun. At Calhoun, the line would turn southbound and head to 9th, turning eastbound on 9th to go one block to the terminus at 9th & Jones at the ITC.
Trinity Bluffs
The Trinity Bluffs alignment is 1.4 miles end-to-end. From the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th & Jones, the line heads westbound on 9th to Commerce, where it turns and heads northbound to 6th. At 6th, the line turns westbound and heads to 7th, where it heads further westbound to Henderson. It turns and heads northbound on Henderson to 3rd, where it turns and runs eastbound. Upon reaching Pecan, the line turns northbound and heads to Bluff, then eastbound to Samuels. It runs northbound on Samuels to the Cold Springs intersection, the terminus of the line. It then heads back to Downtown via Samuels, Bluff, and Pecan. At Pecan & 4th, it turns and heads westbound to Calhoun. The line then runs southbound on Calhoun to 9th, turning eastbound on 9th to go one block to the terminus at 9th & Jones at the ITC.
Near Southside – Jennings Option
There are two potential Near Southside alignments being considered at this time. This is the Jennings option, which is 2.0 miles end-to-end. The Jennings option heads southbound on Houston from 3rd. At 9th, the line cuts over to Throckmorton headed southbound, then further over to Jennings. It heads southbound on Jennings past Lancaster and under the railroad tracks and I-30, continuing southbound on Jennings to Pennsylvania. The line then heads westbound on Pennsylvania to Henderson, turning southbound on Henderson to Terrell. The line turns westbound on Terrell to 6th Avenue, the terminus of the line. It heads back into Downtown eastbound and northbound via the same route – Terrell, Henderson, Pennsylvania, and Jennings – before reaching Throckmorton and heading northbound to 3rd, heading eastbound on 3rd back to Houston to head back to the Near Southside. It is important to note that the Jennings option does not directly serve the ITC, but provides a connection to the TRE and the future SW2NE train at the Texas & Pacific Station.
Near Southside – South Main Option
The second potential Near Southside alignment is the South Main option, which is 3.2 miles end-to-end. This alignment leaves the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th & Jones heading westbound on 9th. It turns and heads northbound on Commerce then westbound on 6th. It then turns and heads southbound on Houston, crossing Lancaster, the railroad tracks, and I-30 then merging southbound onto South Main. The line heads southbound on South Main to Magnolia. It turns and heads westbound on Magnolia to 7th Avenue, where it turns northbound and heads to Terrell, the terminus of the line. It heads back into Downtown via the same route – 7th Avenue, Magnolia, and South Main – then turns eastbound towards Jones after crossing the railroad tracks, I-30, and Lancaster. It then turns northbound on Jones and heads back to the ITC at 9th & Jones, where it would then turn westbound onto 9th to head back out.
Near Southside & Rosedale/East Side – Rosedale Alignment
The Rosedale line is 2.2 miles end-to-end. It leaves the Intermodal Transportation Center at 9th & Jones heading westbound on 9th. It turns and heads northbound on Commerce then westbound on 6th. It then turns and heads southbound on Houston, crossing Lancaster, the railroad tracks, and I-30 then merging southbound onto South Main. The line heads southbound on South Main to Rosedale. It turns eastbound on Rosedale to Evans, which is the terminus of the line. It heads back into Downtown via the same route – Rosedale and South Main – then turns eastbound towards Jones after crossing the railroad tracks, I-30, and Lancaster. It then turns northbound on Jones and heads back to the ITC at 9th & Jones, where it would then turn westbound onto 9th to head back out.
Again, let us stress that these alignment options are still being measured against the design criteria. The exact starter alignment has not yet been selected, and may in fact be a combination of elements of multiple alignments. We’ll have more as the study by HDR continues. For more information on this process, head to the City of Fort Worth’s official streetcar project web site, where this data is available to the public as a PDF at the following link: DRAFT Technical Memorandum – Alignment Refinement.
Jan 5, 2010 6
By: Kevin Buchanan
According to an ad in this issue of the Sundance Square Insider (PDF link), Cowtown Diner will be opening in the former La Madeleine space at 305 Main on the 11th. (Insert rant about the over-reliance on the “Cowtown” thing here.) Cowtown Diner will feature a gourmet deli/take out market serving salads, sandwiches, prepared entrees and casseroles as well as full service, off-site catering and a home delivery family meal program.
Nov 20, 2009 1
By: Kevin Buchanan
Last night was the final public meeting for input on the proposed 3rd Street streetscape project in Downtown. The crowd gathered in the Downtown Central Library’s Chappel meeting room as representatives from Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. and HOK presented the final preferred option.
Combining elements of two earlier designs and redesigned a bit for cost savings, the new plan would completely re-work 3rd Street from Henderson on the west to the railroad tracks on the east. The street would feature wider sidewalks, narrower/fewer car lanes, redesigned parking setups, new street furniture, and an Art Deco chevron brick & concrete paving design. Read the rest of this entry »
Sep 24, 2009 4
By: Kevin Buchanan
Major news on the streetcar front. The City of Fort Worth has formally issued a Request for Qualifications, or RFQ, about the streetcar project. This means that the city is actively seeking a firm to do the finalized engineering & design work on the modern streetcar system, from track design and layout to operating and funding processes. Proposals from prospective firms must be received by the City of Fort Worth Purchasing Division no later than October 22. The city states that once the selected firm receives a Notice to Proceed, they must deliver the complete streetcar design & operations package in no more than 365 days.
The RFQ calls for the selected firm to conduct engineering, design, and operational work for the proposed starter system:
The recommended starter alignment includes a downtown one-way loop (including an extension to Trinity Bluff), a West 7th Street route to the Cultural District, and a Near Southside route to the Medical District and the Evans and Rosedale Urban Village. This starter alignment would connect Fort Worth’s two largest employment centers, numerous world-class cultural destinations, and four urban villages.
The RFQ also notes a planned next phase of the streetcar network:
A subsequent phase of the streetcar network would include a route to Texas Wesleyan University on East Rosedale Street and a route to the Historic Stockyards District on North Main Street.
The RFQ is, in total, 14 pages in PDF format. It can be downloaded from the City of Fort Worth’s web site here.
This is where it starts getting real. The city has just gone from the “talk” phase to the “create a complete system design and select an engineering firm” phase. Fort Worth has made some remarkable progress, and we’re now significantly farther into the process than we’ve ever been. Once this process is complete, the city will have a real, detailed streetcar system design specified, from the routes to the vehicles to the fare collection boxes to the operating procedures and everything in between.
It is conceivable that, due to the time frame of the RFQ and the federal TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant Fort Worth applied for to get some “jump start” money, we could be stepping on to the first phase of a Fort Worth modern streetcar in less than three years.
Below, we’ve copied the text of the main part of the RFQ for easier searching and reading. Read the rest of this entry »
Sep 15, 2009 6
By: Kevin Buchanan
The Fort Worth Business Press is reporting that the former La Madeleine space in Sundance Square’s historic Plaza Hotel Building has been re-leased by a new restaurant, Cowtown Diner:
Cowtown Diner will operate from 5,100 square feet of leased space at 301 Main St. in downtown Fort Worth and will feature a gourmet deli/take out market serving salads, sandwiches, prepared entrees and casseroles as well as full service, off-site catering and a home delivery family meal program.
“Cowtown Diner is for people who love to eat and enjoy bold, unique flavors,” Jones said in a release. “Our menu has a strong point of differentiation. We will feature classic recipes with a fresh flair. Guests will savor the entire experience of dining at Cowtown Diner, particularly the inventive interpretation on the vintage diner concept.”
Insert rant about “Cowtown” name here, of course. Beyond that, it’ll be interesting to see what Cowtown Diner’s menu will look like when it opens early next year.
Aug 12, 2009 5
By: Kevin Buchanan
Molly the Trolley, the new circulator project in Downtown, has succeeded beyond initial expectations. When the project first launched, we’re told that ridership of 50 per day was to be considered a success – instead, Molly’s been attracting 300+ riders per day, and monthly ridership is now over 10,000.
Thanks to the success of the program, it’s getting extended – originally planned to run through August 22nd, Molly will be rolling now at least through Thanksgiving.
FORT WORTH (August 11, 2009) – The T announced today that it will continue to operate Molly the Trolley’s free downtown route through November 28, seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. following a decision by the pilot project’s partners.
The decision by the Molly the Trolley founding partners – The T, the Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. – was based upon ridership of more than 10,000 a month and the fact that more than 95 percent of riders consistently rated the service excellent or good for meeting their transportation needs. Molly the Trolley has been extremely popular with downtown employees, residents and local visitors, as well as tourists.
“In addition to tourism, it was very gratifying to learn that people who live and/or work in downtown Fort Worth used and appreciated the Molly service for meeting their business, shopping and entertainment needs,” said Bob Jameson, chairman of the board of directors of Downtown Fort Worth, Inc.
Molly’s success bodes well for another transportation project – the modern streetcar system. Here’s the primary Molly route, the “Downtown Get-Around,” running on a loop through Downtown with vehicles arriving every 15 minutes. Note how similar the Molly route is to the Downtown segment of the modern streetcar proposal:
Molly the Trolley “Downtown Get-Around” route
Rough draft of Downtown segment of Fort Worth modern streetcar network
The similarity, we’re told, is not coincidence. The city is watching Molly’s success with a keen eye as planning for the modern streetcar goes on. The route is similar to the rough draft streetcar plan for Downtown, and the 15 minute headways are similar to the 12-15 minutes one can expect of the streetcar. Mayor Moncrief made the connection clear in a speech at the launch of the project:
“Molly the Trolley is definitely a look into the future,” he [Mayor Moncrief] said. “One day we hope to have a comprehensive modern-day streetcar system here in Fort Worth.”
The city is taking regular count of riders on Molly, so getting out and taking her for a spin when you’re in Downtown is an easy way to help support the modern streetcar project. Molly’s Downtown Get-Around route is free to ride and runs 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM, seven days a week, with vehicles arriving at each stop every 15 minutes.
Jul 24, 2009 2
By: Kevin Buchanan
More in Downtown restoration news – the Jarvis Building, the small Victorian structure between the Burk Burnett Building and the Sinclair Building on Main Street, is getting restored. Sundance Square (the owners) have embarked on a restoration of the building’s facade following the move-in of the i-Fort Worth visitor’s center on the ground floor next to the Jubilee Theater.
The Jarvis Building was built around 1884 and is one of the oldest buildings still standing in Downtown. Besides i-Fort Worth and the Jubilee, the building has office space on the second floor. It is built of sandstone. The restoration isn’t taking the building back to its totally original look – it was painted white long ago to seal the sandstone – but it is dramatically improving the building’s looks and taking it back to a period appearance. Congrats to Sundance Square for taking the building back to being a vibrant part of the street.
May 19, 2009 3
By: Kevin Buchanan
No, you’re not seeing things – this is not a “best of” Fort Worthology, cobbled together to fill your Internet browsing time between your Twittering and searching for videos of kittens on Youtube – we’re back! Fort Worthology just spent a week in Portland, OR, and we’ll be writing a bit about what we saw later on. But first…
…Sandra Baker in the S-T reports that the nearly-unthinkable has finally happened: the Bass family has purchased the long-wanted, long-unavailable sliver of parking lot just north of the Flying Saucer in Downtown. This is big news, because it means the highly anticipated Sundance Square plaza can finally, finally move forward.
As part of its master plan, Sundance Square set aside the land straddling Main Street to the east and west between Third and Fourth streets for a central plaza.
Design work for the plaza was never completed because the family didn’t own all the land.
“Serious” planning talks are about to begin, Campbell said, stressing that there is no timetable for completion.
Now, we shouldn’t be looking for dirt to be turning right away – in the near-term, the Basses will clean up the lot and bring it in-line with the appearance of their other parking lots. But clearly, the gears are in motion at long last to take out the parking lots blighting the heart of Downtown Fort Worth and replace them with a real, attractive public space – a public space that Downtown has needed for a long time, and which it has always lacked.
Or, as TownSite Co.‘s Phillip Poole put it:
“The downtown area has always needed a formal plaza for gatherings,” Poole said. “We’ve always used the streetscapes and sidewalks. It would be the heart we haven’t had. We’ve really missed that for a long time.”
One of the things we checked out in Portland was Pioneer Courthouse Square, considered one of the best public spaces in the entire United States. The vitality and life it brought to Downtown Portland, and its function as the city’s “living room,” was apparent. Reclaiming this land in the center of Sundance Square for public space will do wonders for Downtown’s sense of place.
Apr 22, 2009 20
By: Kevin Buchanan
Last night at the Central Library in Downtown Fort Worth, the city showcased a draft of a radically altered and improved bicycle transportation plan called “Bike Fort Worth.” Aiming to replace the rather lacking 1999 bike route plan with a more robust and elaborate system, the city has been working for a year and a half on “Bike Fort Worth,” and the results look impressive.
With “Bike Fort Worth,” the city has laid out ambitious goals: to triple the level of bicycle transportation in the city, to reduce the number of bicycle-related accidents by 1/4, and to attain official designation as a “Bicycle Friendly Community” from the League of American Bicyclists – all by 2015.
With “Bike Fort Worth,” it is clear that the city is making a huge new commitment to the “Complete Streets” movement and that the attitude of planning and transportation at City Hall has truly radically shifted. Now, let’s dive into some of the details of “Bike Fort Worth.”
(Apologies for the weird photos – seating was limited and we were at an angle.)
Some of the challenges identified in “Bike Fort Worth” are our high-speed arterials with no bike provisions, unsafe behavior by both motorists and bicyclists, street design features that are unfriendly to bicycles, missing connections between bike facilities and neighborhoods, and a lack of convenient and safe bike parking & storage at destinations. “Bike Fort Worth” aims to address all of these issues – and let’s start by taking a look at the subject most near and dear to our hearts here at Fort Worthology: bike lanes, routes, and trails.
In the 2007 bicycle survey, the message from respondents was strong: when asked what would encourage residents to bicycle more often, 86% said “bike lanes,” 84% said “new trails,” and 68% said “signed bike routes.” “Bike Fort Worth” addresses all three forms of infrastructure.
The new bicycle transportation system aims to provide links to existing and planned bike facilities in neighboring cities, provide safe bicycle routes along major corridors, identify alternative parallel routes to major arterials too large for safe bicycle accommodation (think six-lane plus designs), fill gaps in bicycle routing and linkages, overcome barriers to bike travel between neighborhoods and destinations, and provide connections to major destinations. Links to transit centers, existing and planned rail stations, the Urban Villages, Downtown Fort Worth, schools, colleges, universities, major employers, the Trinity Trails, and parks and recreation areas are all part of “Bike Fort Worth.”
“Bike Fort Worth” identifies three categories of bike infrastructure and uses them all: on-street striped bicycle-only lanes, on-street bike routes marked with “sharrows,” and off-street trails. Related are several other pieces of bike-friendly infrastructure, including intersections with sensors properly tuned to detect bicycles, bicycle-only traffic signals where trails and on-street facilities cross, and new crossings of barriers such as the Trinity River.
“Bike Fort Worth” proposes a huge increase in the scope and quality of bike infrastructure in the city of Fort Worth. At present, there are approximately 39.6 miles of “sharrow” bike routes, 8.5 miles of striped bicycle-only lanes (including the new Magnolia Avenue “road diet”), 58.4 miles of off-street trails, and 3.9 miles of “sidepaths” (wider sidewalks in situations where bikes-on-sidewalk is appropriate). In all, there are 109.4 miles of bike infrastructure in Fort Worth.
Under “Bike Fort Worth,” our bike infrastructure would be radically increased:
Total on-street bicycle infrastructure would jump to 704.75 miles, and total off-street would go to 196.4 miles. Truly, this is a paradigm shift in bicycle transportation in the city of Fort Worth.
Highlights of new off-street trails include:
Above is a view showing primarily Downtown, the Cultural District, and the Near Southside. Among the highlights:
A close-up view of Downtown. One of the biggest changes and improvements in “Bike Fort Worth” is the creation of real bike connections between districts in the central city – dedicated bike lanes will carry riders between the Near Southside and Downtown on South Main, Jennings, and Summit. Dedicated bike lanes will also connect to the Cultural District – which we’ll get to in a moment.
Looking further south:
Also seen here is the long-distance route of the new dedicated bike lanes on Sylvania/Riverside.
In the Cultural District, we see:
The dedicated bike lanes on West 7th are an especially big addition, especially with all the development activity along the street.
In addition, the plan adds extensive new signage for bike lanes, bike routes, trails, and wayfinding to destinations using the system.
“Bike Fort Worth” also looks at bicycle parking and storage. The plan calls for the adoption of mandatory bicycle parking requirements in zoning and development plans for new commercial, office, industrial, and multi-family residential development. In addition, the city will implement a “significant” bike rack installation program to radically increase the amount of public bike parking in the city. The plan calls for the placement of bike parking in convenient and logical locations by the main entrances of businesses – not stuck in the back or in the middle of nowhere. “Bike Fort Worth” will also implement preferred bike rack designs, favoring designs like the “inverted U” and “lollipop” racks and discouraging designs like the “wave” and “wheel-bender.” The plan also calls for new parking garages to provide bicycle parking space.
The plan even has strategies for replacing some on-street car parking with on-street bicycle parking, which allows the parking of a great number of bicycles in the space previously reserved for just one or two cars. A good example is shown in this Streetfilms video about bicycle parking in Portland, Oregon:
In addition, the plan calls for the construction of a Downtown Bicycle Commuter Station. An example of bicycle commuter parking can be seen in this Streetfilms video about Alewife Station in Cambridge, Massachusetts:
“Bike Fort Worth” also features extensive education, enforcement, and outreach programs:
The plan for Sunday Parkways is inspired by other such events in more bike-friendly cities, such as Portland, Oregon. This Streetfilms video shows some scenes from Portland’s own Sunday Parkways:
In addition, the plan calls for changes to street design standards, subdivision standards, and the development review process to ensure bicycle support is “built-in.” The city intends to fully embrace the “Complete Streets” movement and it will be policy that street planning, design, and construction will accommodate bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users from the very beginning.
The plan also calls for the city to launch an accurate bicycling count program, and a bicycle-related crash data & reporting program.
“Bike Fort Worth” is in draft stage and the city is currently accepting public input on the plan. The last of the three public meetings will be tomorrow night at 6:30 PM at LMRA River Pavillion, 3400 Bryant Irvin Road. After the plan is refined based on public input, it’s off to implementation. As said before, the plan’s goal is to triple bicycle travel, reduce bicycle accidents by 1/4, and attain a “Bicycle Friendly Community” rating from the League of American Bicyclists by 2015.
It’s a radical plan for a city that’s been more slow and measured in the past, but it shows the fundamental shifts in thinking and planning that are occurring at City Hall. Fort Worth is a city that is changing its thinking, and “Bike Fort Worth” is a great example of progress towards creating a more livable, sustainable Fort Worth. We came away from the presentation very impressed indeed – a big thanks to Don Koski, the Senior Planner in Fort Worth’s Transportation and Public Works Department, for putting on the presentation last night.
Apr 21, 2009 Comments Off
By: Kevin Buchanan
We reported last year of some stirrings related to The Cassidy, the long-planned Sundance Square condo tower for the corner of 3rd & Throckmorton in Downtown. The work last year turned out to be related to the adjacent parking lot, but the word on the street is that the Cassidy may not be dormant for much longer.
We’ve been hearing rumors in a few places to the effect that Sundance Square may be starting work on the Cassidy in the fall. Construction of the condo tower would involve the demolition of the building housing Zippy’s and Sammy’s. The new building would feature a condo tower rising only over the location of the current parking lot at 3rd & Throckmorton – the rest of the block would be a low-rise base of perhaps 2-4 stories running from the tower to Houston Street, replacing the Zippy’s/Sammy’s building. The Sanger Lofts building and the Fakes Building (housing Starbucks and Pappagallo Classiques, as well as more loft apartments linked to the Sanger Lofts) would be unaffected.
If these rumors are true (and that’s a big “if”), the Cassidy would make a pretty noticeable impact on the Downtown streetscape. Details are a bit thin on the long-rumored project (the New York Times mentions the building as far back as 1996), but the published information indicates that the building would be 22 stories tall, feature 78 units, and have ground-floor retail. Whether those details are still accurate is unknown. The building was designed by David M. Schwarz Architects. Parking for the building would be underground, in the existing garage that is used by the Sanger Lofts and the Sundance West apartments – that garage in fact already has the foundation, elevator core locations, etc. for the Cassidy and was constructed larger than needed to support the new tower.
One other bit of information related to the topic – on August 1st last year, the web site domain thecassidy.com (no site currently exists at the URL) was registered by the Enilon Group, a local web design and marketing company. One of Enilon’s clients is Sundance Square Management.
Again, this is pure, 100% unconfirmed speculation and rumor-mongering. Don’t take this as a done deal until there’s an announcement from Sundance Square. We’re confident the building will be built at some point, but whether that point is this fall or not is simply not known.
Here’s a Google Street View look at the building at 3rd & Houston housing Zippy’s and Sammy’s which would be demolished for the Cassidy, if the rumors prove true.
Apr 20, 2009 3
By: Kevin Buchanan
While we’ve got streetcars on our minds, here’s some good news about the Fort Worth Streetcar project: the North Central Texas Council of Governments has approved using $1.6 million for a grant to the City of Fort Worth to fund a design consultant and study on the project. The city and The T will kick in funds to bring the total up to $2 million. The city will be bringing on a consultant to do detailed design schematics and operational details, which means that we’ll then start to see some concrete Fort Worth streetcar design plans.
This is a big step forward – the current streetcar plan doesn’t have specific design and operation details like actual track layouts, etc. so once this consultant and study are complete we should get a real, detailed plan for the streetcar network. It will be interesting to see how the specifics of track alignments, etc. all pan out.
Apr 13, 2009 1
By: Kevin Buchanan
Gordon Dickson at the Star-Telegram has the story – the Fort Worth Streetcar is now an official part of the FW/D region’s Mobility 2030 plan, and thus is now eligible for federal transit funding:
Fort Worth’s proposed streetcar system and a commuter rail line to Mansfield are now officially part of the region’s plans and eligible for federal funding.
The two projects were added to the region’s Mobility 2030 plan Thursday during a meeting of the Regional Transportation Council, North Texas’ congressionally recognized planning body.
Adding the Fort Worth Streetcar to Mobility 2030 is a smart move that should open up new doors for the system, and further reinforces the streetcar’s place as a part of a well-rounded regional transit system covering not only longer-distance mobility through commuter and light rail, but also mobility within neighborhoods and connections from the larger rail systems.
Mar 13, 2009 Comments Off
By: Kevin Buchanan
This Star-Telegram article sort of slipped through the radar, but it could have implications for the proposed Sundance Square central plaza that we discussed previously:
The real estate partnership that owns the historic 16-story Sinclair Building and the former Hogan Office Supply Co. building in downtown Fort Worth has picked up a third piece of property.
Sinclair Building Partners has bought the parking lot next to the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium at Fourth and Commerce streets, according to deed records.
The article says the new owners plan to keep it a parking lot for the time being, but with the lot now in local, friendlier hands, perhaps this is one step towards the central plaza plan.
Tip of the hat to our friend Michael H. for the link!
Mar 3, 2009 17
By: Kevin Buchanan
In the first of what I intend to make a series of posts on the site, I’m going to be taking a look at the state of public space in urban Fort Worth. As our first case, I thought I’d discuss the long-running question mark of the Sundance Square central plaza.
From an urbanity perspective, one of the most unfortunate parts of the otherwise wildly successful Sundance Square are these two parking lots, bounded by Houston, 4th, Commerce, and 3rd on either side of Main Street. Here, in the very heart of Sundance Square (and by extension, Downtown itself), nearly two full blocks in the center of Downtown’s most people-centric neighborhood are taken up by surface parking lots. Have you ever walked around Downtown Fort Worth, missing the lack of real effective public plazas & parks in it, and thought that these sites would make a great location for a plaza?
In fact, the Bass family agrees with you.
As seen above in the Sundance Square master plan, designed by architect David M. Schwarz, those two parking lots disappear, replaced by half-block mixed-use buildings fronting Houston and Commerce, and half-block public plazas on each side of Main Street. While the details tend to shift around (I don’t expect that the plan now would call for the demolition of the historic Jett and Land Title Block buildings, and I’ve heard of a slightly different design that shuts off that one-block stretch of Main to car traffic, which I think would make for a more effective space than allowing cars to bisect two plazas), the intent to use those lots for public space has been part of the plan since the ’80s.
So why are they still just parking lots? There are a number of stories out there: that the Bass family feels there aren’t enough parking garages yet to offset the loss of the lots (personally, I don’t agree with that sentiment). That another family owns half of the eastern block and doesn’t want to work with the Basses, preferring to keep their parking lot rather than sell the property. I’m probably forgetting others.
Downtown Fort Worth lacks a real central public space, an “outdoor room” in the heart of the city. There’s Burnett Park, but it’s on the west side of Downtown and is not really all that effective in its current form (its unfortunate ’80s makeover and being dominated by Burnett Plaza’s retail-less design keep it from being truly effective). The Water Gardens are a bit too big, and at the moment are not surrounded by much that people want to go to, a situation that will likely remain until the rest of the Lancaster area redevelops. These central blocks in Sundance Square remain an ideal location for a central plaza.
The setting reminds me a little bit of Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Oregon. Pioneer Courthouse Square is an incredibly effective and popular public space, often called the best public space in America and named fourth best public space in the world by the Project for Public Spaces. It’s a city block (which, like Fort Worth’s, is small), surrounded on all sides by active uses (as the central Sundance Square blocks are), linked by rail transit (which would be the case here as well when the streetcar gets built). Pioneer Courthouse Square is described as “Portland’s Living Room,” and it’s a space like that which is missing in Fort Worth.
Here’s a Streetfilms video about Pioneer Courthouse Square, taken during the “Festival of Flowers” during the summer:
A video from imagiNATIVEamerica:
Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square from imagiNATIVEamerica on Vimeo.
And a photo by “Dog Mom of Five” on Flickr:
Here’s the link to the Project for Public Spaces entry on Pioneer Courthouse Square.
Jan 29, 2009 4
By: Kevin Buchanan
Image by the City of Fort Worth.
EDIT: For readers joining us from the Streetsblog Network or Streetsblog itself, check the bottom of the post for an overview map of the starter system and the areas it will serve.
Things have been a little quiet on the streetcar front since the presentation to the City Council in December, but that’s not to say there’s nothing going on. I’ve done some asking around and have some updates on how things are going for the Fort Worth Streetcar – steps towards both funding and more detailed planning are well underway. We are assuredly moving forward on this. Here’s the latest:
- Work is underway to get access to regional toll revenue that NCTCOG (North Central Texas Council Of Governments) wants to allow for partial funding of the project. This may require some work in Austin, but from what I understand, signs are positive. The hope is for everything to be lined up by late spring/early summer, with those NCTCOG funds available by the end of the year.
- In the meantime, the city is determining the feasibility of issuing an RFP (Request For Proposal) for a smaller study about economic development, ridership, and operational details in the spring, depending on available funding.
- The city is in the process of scheduling meetings with the boards of the three affected TIF districts as soon as possible. The TIF boards need to determine whether to amend their project plans to include the streetcar project.
- The city’s community relations department is working on a dedicated web site for the streetcar project, for public education & outreach purposes.
Things are definitely still moving towards getting the streetcar project fully designed & funded, and I’m sure that there will be plenty more news to come.
EDIT: For those of you joining us from the Streetsblog Network or Streetsblog itself, here’s a map of the proposed starter system:
The Fort Worth streetcar starter system would create a Downtown loop, linked via two major lines to the Cultural District and the Near Southside, and via a couple of smaller spurs to Uptown and Evans & Rosedale Village.
Jan 27, 2009 4
By: Kevin Buchanan
Thought I’d share this video, which is a part of the excellent online exhibit For People and Places: The Work of David M. Schwarz Architects, created by the National Building Museum and the Institute for Classical Architecture and Classical America. This video, “Restoring Civitas,” talks about the revitalization of Downtown Fort Worth over the years, starting with the infamous “Gruen Plan” of the ’50s, and transitioning to the contextual, traditional urbanism renewal that Schwarz and his firm have been guiding since the ’80s. Included are archive footage of the Gruen Plan, interviews with Schwarz and his partners along with Ed Bass, discussions of revitalization techniques, and a bit about building Sundance West, built in 1988 as the first housing in Downtown since World War II and a real unknown in terms of success before its construction. For the curious, especially for those who aren’t from Fort Worth that might be joining us from Streetsblog and the Streetsblog Network, some of the other Schwarz projects shown in the video include the Fort Worth Central Library, the Maddox Muse Center, the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall, the Sid Richardson Museum, the Tarrant County Family Law Center, the Sundance East block, the Chase Bank Building, and the redevelopment of the former Sanger Brothers department store into the Sanger Lofts. The web site for Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. is dfwi.org, and the site for the Sundance Square district is sundancesquare.com.
There are many more videos, and lots of photos and text descriptions, online at the exhibit’s site, forpeopleandplaces.org. Any fan of traditional architecture and traditional urbanism ought to check out this exhibit of Schwarz’s work, which also has features on projects from Washington, D. C., the Yale campus, and others in addition to Downtown Fort Worth.
Jan 23, 2009 5
By: Kevin Buchanan
Pegasus News has the confirmation. And I appreciate the tip of the hat to us for breaking the story on Wednesday (thanks to commenter “Insano” for the tip). So, there you go – Jake’s Hamburgers is confirmed to be headed to Sundance Square.
Jan 21, 2009 18
By: Kevin Buchanan
So sayeth Insano in the comments on our last post on the subject:
Jakes Hamburgers will be the new tenant – if you are familiar with it, they have one on McKinney Ave. in Dallas
For the curious, the web site for Jake’s is www.jakeshamburgers.net. I’ve never been, but I’m pretty sure I recall seeing them in Uptown the last time I was in Dallas. Thoughts?
Jan 14, 2009 5
By: Kevin Buchanan
Couldn’t help but notice this tidbit in the Star-Telegram’s coverage of the closing of La Madeleine and Chili’s Downtown from Mark Thomas, the owner of the Shamrock Building where Chili’s was located:
Thomas said he has already spoken with a bank, three local restaurant operations and a Dallas restaurant company interested in the location.
Good to see there’s some strong interest in replacing Chili’s – I hope it’s one of the four restaurants, rather than a bank. Sundance Square also says they have an “interested party” for La Madeleine’s space in the old Plaza Hotel building.
Also of interest were the bits about Sundance Square’s restaurant sales:
Sales of full-service restaurants in downtown in the second quarter of 2008, the latest period for which figures are available, were $23.5 million, 13 percent more than a year earlier, when sales were $20.8 million, according to Downtown Fort Worth Inc.
Moreover, on average, restaurants in Sundance Square are performing at better than $500 a square foot, and in November, sales at full-service restaurants increased 4.5 percent from a year earlier, Sundance said.
Piranha Killer Sushi, which opened about three years ago on Third Street, generates the highest sales per square foot of all Sundance Square restaurants, officials said.
Go Piranha! Still my favorite sushi place in the whole of Fort Worth.
Jan 12, 2009 14
By: Kevin Buchanan
Rumor on the Fort Worth Forum is that the Downtown La Madeleine will be closing this week.
Workers say the dinner business is no longer enough to justify staying open, although the lunch crowd is always good. I’ll miss the place, since I currently have breakfast there two or three times a week. Sunday’s supposed to be their last day.
A shame, if true. I always enjoyed a bowl of their tomato soup. La Madeleine is in one of my favorite buildings in the city – the old Plaza Hotel building (pictured above). Will be interesting to see what happens to the space should La Madeleine really be on the way out.
Dec 11, 2008 2
By: Kevin Buchanan
The Carnegie, the new Sundance Square office tower, opened this week – with over 75% of its 280,000 square feet already leased. EOG Resources is the building’s primary tenant, and the first ground-floor retail tenant has opened as well – Comerica Bank. More ground-floor retail space is still available, so it may not be long before we hear of another restaurant or retail tenant announcement for the building.
The Carnegie was designed by David M. Schwarz, architect of several other local landmarks including Bass Performance Hall and the Chase Bank Building.
Here’s a few photos I snapped over the weekend of the building preparing for its opening – the nice wide sidewalk is clear and open, and the building’s details look fabulous.
Nov 12, 2008 5
By: Kevin Buchanan
EDIT: I have updated the map based on additional information with a simpler alignment from Magnolia up 7th Avenue to Terrell to link Plaza Medical, Cook Children’s, and Harris Methodist.
Based on further bits of information I’ve gathered from multiple places, I’ve refined the map of the streetcar starter system a bit further. For the usual disclaimers: this map is not official, and is based on the routes solidly identified thus far along with my own speculation about the more vaguely-defined portions of the system. It is subject to change based on engineering and other factors and should not be taken as gospel.
So, here’s what’s changed:
The Cultural District route looks like it won’t be following the big loop down to Harley Avenue as was depicted in the initial whitepaper. Instead, the line runs down 7th to Montgomery, south on Montgomery to Lancaster, east on Lancaster to Currie, north on Currie to 7th, then back to downtown (and the actual direction of travel isn’t set in stone – it could very well go the other way ’round, but it looks like this is the path of the tracks that will be recommended).
The Near Southside route is pretty unchanged – South Main and Magnolia are still the prime corridors. I changed to a simpler route on the 7th Avenue to Plaza/Cook Children’s/Harris Methodist portion of the route. Previously, the map showed a loop around the block bounded by 7th Avenue, Terrell, 6th Avenue, and Humbolt, but I’ve refined this to a simpler 7th Avenue to Terrell to 6th Avenue back to Magnolia loop.
The Downtown “core” has been left fairly vague by the committee pending engineering reports – it’s only been described as using Lancaster on the south boundary, Commerce or Calhoun on the east boundary, Belknap, Weatherford, 1st, or 2nd on the north boundary, and Throckmorton or Houston on the west boundary. Based on that, I’ve drawn a pretty simple core loop of Lancaster, Commerce, 1st, and Houston, with a brief jog over to Jones on 9th to reach the ITC. This is just speculation on my part based on the boundaries laid out and the fact that I figure the line will physically go to the ITC. It is entirely possible that I’m way off on the downtown routing compared to what will actually get built, but this image works for discussion purposes.
Something new I’ve heard from a few people is that a Samuels Avenue link will be part of the downtown core. This is something totally new to me, and I have no idea how it might be accomplished. In this map, I’ve drawn it as a line down 1st to Pecan, up to Bluff, and over to Samuels and back. I base that solely on my knowledge of downtown streets and the fact that there has been discussion of installing traffic signals at the intersections along Pecan at Belknap and, I believe, Weatherford. This alignment also links the Pecan Place developments. This part of the route is pure speculation on my part and may not bear any resemblance to the finished product.
The reasons for wanting a connection to Samuels are at least twofold. One, the area is booming in its own right thanks to the Trinity Bluff developments, and these developments are exactly the sort that would be well served with streetcar service. Two, there is apparently still a discussion as to the nature of a later extension of the streetcar system to the Stockyards. The initial whitepaper showed the line going up North Main from downtown, but there is talk of using Samuels to get to the Stockyards instead. Bear in mind that any future extension to the Stockyards is definitely a “future business” sort of thing and won’t be happening any time soon, so there will be plenty of talk about that route later.
Lastly, there is the short line running to the Evans & Rosedale Village area along East Rosedale. This is being presented as part of the starter system. There is a mixed-use development in the planning at Evans & Rosedale, which is part of the reason for this extension (along with the fact that Evans & Rosedale is a designated Urban Village site). It’s also important to show that the streetcar is intended to serve the often-neglected east side, and this short line will be the basis for a later expansion down East Rosedale to Texas Wesleyan University.
A note on the map: where exact routing is not yet specified, I tried to keep the lines no more than two blocks apart, based on the design of the Portland Streetcar which similarly never has two directions more than two blocks apart. In addition, I make no proclamations yet about how much single vs. double tracking will be used. These questions will be determined in the design and engineering phase of the project.
So there you have it. There will be three public meetings on the streetcar routes this month, on the 17th, 18th, and 19th. I will have the exact locations and times in a later post. After that, I believe the proposal goes before the City Council for a vote in December. This map, while it may not be 100% accurate to the system that will get built, should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.
Nov 6, 2008 Comments Off
By: Kevin Buchanan
For the curious, just wanted to note that I’ve also written up a review of Simply Fondue over at West & Clear: http://westandclear.com/2008/11/06/gastrognome-simply-fondue/
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