Sticky Trails With A Fallen Tree Led Me To The Gateway Park Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Master Plan Propaganda

I was in a bad mood this morning, an after effect of a raging political printer debate last night on Facebook which left me exhausted.

A long swim, early this morning, under the sliver of light provided by a skinny crescent moon did little to alleviate my bad mood.

So, I decided some fast wheel rolling on the Gateway Park mountain bike trails would be just what the Mood Doctor would prescribe if I had a Mood Doctor.

As I made the left turn into Gateway Park I began to see puddles of water. This did not bode well. While no rain fell on my location yesterday, it appeared that five miles to the west some precipitation precipitated.

As I drove to the bike unload zone I decided if the trails were muddy I would instead pedal the paved trails, trails which I have not pedaled in a long time, not since I discovered I enjoyed the Gateway Park mountain bike trails.

As you can clearly see above, I made it to my favorite Gateway Park photo op location. A scenic look at the Trinity River in its natural state, not needing tricky lighting and special filters to make the Trinity River look good which is what you usually need if you want to take an "enhanced" Trinity River photo in the downtown Fort Worth zone of the Trinity River.

The fact that I made it to my favorite Gateway Park photo op location would indicate the trails were not muddy, which they weren't. But rain had left the trails a bit sticky, thus impacting how freely the wheels roll.

I had already decided I was only going to go one time around the trails due to the sticky trails issue, when I came to the below obstruction.

Getting over the fallen tree was fairly easy, but doing so rendered me a wet sweaty mess. I was already in adrenaline over drive due to an encounter with a big cranky snake stretched across the trail. I slammed to a stop, did not reach quickly for my camera, figuring by the time I got the camera turned on the snake would have slithered off. I  figured wrong. The slithering took long enough that I likely could have taken a picture had I quickly reached for the camera. I think the snake may have been slithering slow due to the cool temperature, as in chilled to the low 80s.

Continuing on I came to one of Gateway Park's infamous boarded up boardwalks, where I saw signage had been added, signage with very tortured verbiage whose meaning my feeble grasp of English had trouble understanding.

ENTERING CLOSED AREAS; HOURS OF OPERATION, IT SHALL BE UNLAWFUL FOR ANY PERSON TO ENTER ANY PORTION OF A PARK  OR RECREATION AREA WHICH IS DESIGNATED AS RESTRICTED.

So, is the Gateway Park boarded up boardwalk designated as restricted? Does the AREA CLOSED TO PUBLIC sign you see below designate the boarded up boarkwalk as being restricted? Why use such clunky verbiage on a sign?

An even better question than wondering about clunky verbiage on a sign is to wonder how many more years is this Gateway Park eyesore going to exist? Either fix the boarded up boardwalks or tear them down.

Or are we  waiting on the Gateway Park Master Plan to fix the boarded up boardwalks? Which leads us to the next sign.

The Trinity River Vision may be one of America's top all time Boondoggles, but one thing the TRVB does do well is produce long lasting signage spewing imaginative propaganda about imaginary plans.

Like the Gateway Park Master Plan signage. The forest of Trinity River Vision Boondoggle propaganda signs showed up years ago, near Fort Woof in Gateway Park touting the Gateway Park Master Plan. The propaganda on the sign above, under the title "The Gateway Park Master Plan" says...

"The revitalization of Gateway Park is a major component of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. The park's ecosystem will be restored to its natural beauty and over 80,000 native oak and pecan trees will be planted. Community-requested recreational amenities will be added throughout its 1,000 acres, making it one of the largest urban programmed parks in the nation. The master plan will spur economic development and connect the east and southeast neighborhoods of Fort Worth to the Trinity River Corridor."

80,000 trees to be planted. When? These are known as J.D. Granger's Magic Trees. I mentioned the Magic Trees in a blogging in early August and first mentioned the J.D. Granger Magic Trees in a blogging way back in 2011, which included video of J.D. Granger describing the Magic Trees.

Shouldn't a Master Plan have some sort of plan? You know, something like a project timeline?

When are we going to see any of the wonderful things we see on the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's propaganda signage about the Gateway Park Master Plan?

More than once whilst reading Trinity River Vision Boondoggle propaganda I have been baffled by the Boondoggle making a claim along the line that something has been requested by the community. In the Gateway Park Master Plan's instance the sign says "Community-requested recreational amenities will be added throughout its 1,000 acres."

I really would like to know how the Boondoggle manages to find out what the "community" is requesting. I'm part of the "community". No one asked me what amenities I'd like to request.

Since, apparently, the Trinity River Vision Boondoggles does what the "community" requests, on behalf of the "community" I would like to request a project timeline letting us in the "community" know when we well be able to start enjoying the amenities the "community" has requested?

It is a puzzling, perplexing mystery to me why more people are not puzzled and perplexed by the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's propaganda nonsense....

Finding Imaginative Sign Progress By America's Biggest Boondoggle On Saturday Gateway Park Bike Ride

Long ago, almost every Saturday, I took my handlebars to Gateway Park to roll over the mountain bike trail before going treasure hunting at Town Talk.

Well, due to excessive mud the Gateway Park mountain bike trails are currently not rollable, but the paved trails are.

What you are looking at over my handlebars is Gateway Park's Trinity Falls, currently with the Trinity River running high, rendering the Trinity Trail bridge over the river uncrossable.

I don't know why a road has been scratched through the levee, scratched all the way to the river. I saw construction activity today in Gateway Park in addition to the scraped levee.

I found the sign my handlebars are pointing at above to be a bit amusing. Sanitary sewer relocations? Hasn't that old sewage treatment plant in Gateway Park been abandoned for decades? They're relocating it? The Sanitary Sewer Relocations are for the Trinity River Vision - Central City Project & the Trinity Uptown Service Area?

Whoever made this sign must not have gotten the memo that America's Biggest Boondoggle is now called Panther Island.

Trinity River Vision Central City Project Trinity Uptown is so last decade.

Continuing on I came to some new paved trail damage on the Gateway Park trails. The flooding river has done some fresh trail undermining.

It has been quite a few years since the remnants of Hurricane Hermine flooded the Trinity River and did the original damage to the paved trail, which the latest flood has enhanced. Is the damaged trail finally going to be fixed? I have no idea.

Continuing on, arriving back at the mountain bike trail soccer baseball parking lot, I saw the sign you see below.

America's Biggest Boondoggle loves its signage. For years now there has been a HUGE installation of Boondoggle signage by the Gateway Park dog park.

The above sign tell us....

 "As part of the Trinity River Vision Master Plan, we're counting down to the launch of some major improvements to Gateway that will make 2015 a big year for progress. Improvements have already been launched in both east and west Gateway Park, many of which are scheduled to be complete this year. Thanks to the project partners for making Gateway Park a world class park for our city!"

Oh the hubris, the raw galling hubris. World class park? Counting down to the launch of some improvements? Improvements have already been launched? I thought we just read we were counting down to the launch?

I'm stuck on "world class park"

What exactly is a "world class park" I am wondering?

Can a "world class park" be world class  if it sports dozens of outhouses like Gateway Park currently sports?

In the middle of the sign are two illustrations of the progress coming to Gateway Park, including that which you see below.

The above illustration tell us "This scenic river observation deck is one of many amenities going into Gateway Park East in 2015, thanks to the City of Fort Worth Parks Department".

Fort Worth is finally going to repair the long boarded up boardwalk eyesores which have been an embarrassment in this world class park for a decade or longer? Or is this to be a new overlook at a different location, with the existing boardwalk remaining a boarded up eyesore?

Last summer I made a video of the boarded up boardwalk in Gateway Park East. Let me see if I can find that video. I'll be right back. Okay, I found it. I'll stick the video in at the end, but first let's look at what we learn on the right side of the sign.

A comprehensive list of those aforementioned "improvements" which have either launched or will soon launch.

The sign tells us that coming in 2015 to Gateway Park East we will see new benches & tables, extra security lighting, additional restrooms, pedestrian bridges, new picnic pavilions, trail extensions, a new trailhead and something called "sights and sounds of nature" children's learning area.

Additional restrooms? Since there are no public restrooms in Gateway Park, of the modern indoor plumbing sort (except in the baseball park, open only when games are being played) are these additional restrooms more outhouses? I would assume so.

Outhouses are the restroom facilities at one of the world's premiere outdoor music venues, The Boondoggle's Panther Island Pavilion, where there is no island or pavilion.

Does it not strike you, as it does me, that these are rather meager park improvements? Is it really necessary to install a sign letting park visitors know more outhouses are being added in 2015?

I have grown tired of typing, so I will keep the Town Talk talk short. Suffice to say, I got a lot of good stuff today.

Anyway, below is the aforementioned video of a walk on the current Gateway Park East boarded up boardwalk....

Gateway Park Visit With Beautiful New Fort Worth Outhouses & Boondoggle Signage

Yesterday, for the first time in years, not since 2015, I visited Fort Worth's Gateway Park to see if there has been any progress with the progress in motion we have been told is in motion for years now, with that progress in motion information on signage in the park installed years ago by what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

Actually, now that you are causing me to think about it, it was via construction signs at Gateway Park where I first saw the Boondoggle referred to with Central City and Uptown added to the usual Trinity River Vision name. Panther Island District was added to the name years later.

I had previously seen the new overlooks which look over the Trinity River, which replaced boarded up boardwalks which had been a hazardous eyesore for years.

What you see above is near the entry to one of those new overlooks. The green/blue plastic signage is pointing to the "North Observation Deck" which I guess makes this one the "South Observation Deck".

Also at the entry to the South Overlook, I mean Observation Deck, is a Fort Worth staple, that being a classy outhouse.

Recently the nation, well, a few people in Fort Worth, were shocked to learn Fort Worth mayor, Betsy Price, is "fantastic friends" with Donald Trump. We all talked about this in Betsy Price Fantastic Friend Trump Fort Worth Sewer Flood Fix.

One can not help wonder if an Outhouse Factory is one of Trump's many business enterprises, one of those he operates via a shell corporation so as to avoid being identified as Trump's. That and even Trump probably wouldn't like his name slapped on something like TRUMP TOILETS.

Obviously I am always looking for some explanation as to why Fort Worth is the Outhouse Capital of America. This Trump Betsy BFF explanation is probably a long shot.

Below is a look at part of the South Observation Deck. That blue sign we see stuck on the deck has been added since I was last at this location.

Oh, turns out it is a sign informing us of something the whole world already knows, that being that "RECREATION ABOUNDS ALONG THE TRINITY RIVER".

On this sign we see multiple photo documentation examples of all the recreation abounding on the Trinity River. Starting with the upper left and going clockwise we shall try to identity the various recreation which is abounding. A kid holds a big fish, a group of skullers skulling, a pair of bikers stopped to do some canoodling (not sure on that one), a trio of paddleboarders doing some litter dodging, the instruction to download the TRWD Trails app, dozens of foolish people floating on inner tubes rockin' the river, kayakers with the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth behind them, and finally, a pair of cowgirls riding their horses on one of the Trinity Trails.

Years ago a hurricane, I think it was Hermine, or maybe an earlier one, caused the Trinity to flood. That flood destroyed sections of the paved trails in Gateway Park, leaving the trail in sections hanging over the edge of the river, and closed off by cyclone fence. The most recent time I eye witnessed this was in May of 2015. You can go to the Finding Imaginative Sign Progress By America's Biggest Boondoggle On Saturday Gateway Park Bike Ride blog post and see photos of the sad state of the Gateway Park paved trails at that point in time.

Well, yesterday I was pleased to see, all that was damaged has been fixed, totally removed, with new paved trail installed further away from the river. HUGE improvement. That is a section of the new paved trail you see above.

On that last visit to Gateway Park, when I saw signage identifying the project as part of the Trinity River Central City Uptown development, I saw bulldozers and other heavy equipment busy churning up the earth where a long abandoned sewage treatment used to hide mysteriously behind easily crossed cyclone fence and decades of foliage growth.

That long abandoned sewage treatment plant is all gone now, and what you now see is a big hole, and a lot of earth scraped clear of vegetation. No further activity was noted.

And then I came to something which appalled me, years ago, when I first saw it. A HUGE installation of signage touting the wonders of what America's Biggest Boondoggle was going to do to Gateway Park.

I was freshly appalled to see this signage yesterday, when I saw it and realized it had all been upgraded. With the new signs touting even more things no one currently living on the planet will probably live long enough to see. You can see the new signs have added the important detail of including those green/blue signs you see giving directions all over the zone of occupation of what originally was called the Trinity River Vision.

Searching the blog the earliest I could find where I blogged about this signage was October 10 2010, eight years ago. That blog post is titled The Trinity River Vision's Gateway Park Vision.

The details showing all the wonders to come have grown much more elaborate, showing many of those equally imaginary "community requested recreational amenities" on a large map of Gateway Park. On this big sign there is also mention made of what have become known as J.D. Granger's Magic Trees. The billboard refers to the Magic Trees as "a key initiative, including the planting of over 80,000 native oak and pecan trees."

This billboard includes a "KEY TO GATEWAY PARK AMENITIES" such as "new parking, new entry towers, new pedestrian bridge, new splash park (where is the old one?), new boat launch, existing boat launch, new rock weir (again, where is the old one?), new playground, new picnic area, new ecosystem restoration (again, where is the old one?), existing dog park, new mountain bike course, new equestrian trails, new primitive hiking trails, new soft paved trails, existing trails, existing disc golf course, new scenic river overlooks (I knew I called them such for some reason, before they became observation decks), new concession areas, new restrooms (again, where is the old one?), new skate park (again, where is the old one?), new baseball/softball fields, new soccer fields, existing baseball/softball fields, existing soccer fields.

Now.

How much has America's Biggest Boondoggle spent over the decades on its incredibly prolific sign posting fetish? I think I have asked this question previously. It seems, if I remember right, former TRWD Board Director, Mary Kelleher, tried to find out, but ran into yet one more brickwall block on that information which would seem to be something the public should have access to, the Boondoggle being a public works project, after all.

Supposedly...

I suspect I will be checking in on Gateway Park more frequently. It will be interesting to see if I can detect anything happening...

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Gateway Park Master Plan Propaganda

Today I tried to pedal the Gateway Park FWMBA mountain bike trail, but quickly tired of its semi-muddy state and having to stop to clear fallen limbs off the trail.

Yesterday's storm hit Gateway Park harder than it did at my location, only 4 miles away. I experienced about 15 minutes of wind and lightning, with rain of an amount insufficient to leave lingering wetness.

The storm hit way harder in north Fort Worth, knocking out power to thousands, some still without power today. That would quickly turn very unpleasant, with no A/C.

After bailing on the mountain bike trail I pedaled the paved trail, where it was easier to dodge fallen limbs. Being on the paved trail brought me to the Fort Woof Dog Park and its forest of Trinity River Vision Boondoggle signage.

That Gateway Park Trinity River Vision Boondoggle signage is really impressive. If you've not seen it and you're in the neighborhood, it is worth a stop at Fort Woof to check out the signs. This is one of the coolest examples of Orwellian propaganda it has ever been my personal pleasure to experience.

The Gateway Park Master Plan sign, you see on the left, has some of the best of the propaganda. I'll copy it, almost verbatim, below...

The Gateway Park Master Plan is an exciting component of Fort Worth Trinity River Vision Boondoggle. The 1,000 acre park will be filled with new community-requested recreational amenities, making it one of the nation's largest urban-programmed parks. With the planting of over 75,000 of J.D. Granger's Magic Trees and the restoration of the original river channel, the park will transform into a natural setting the entire region can enjoy. The project is expected to spur economic growth around the park and will connect the East and Southeast neighborhoods of Fort Worth to the Trinity River corridor.

Also on this sign we learn that the Gateway Park Recreation Components are new soccer and baseball/softball fields, site work for disc golf and mountain bike course, outdoor covered basketball courts, expanded trail system (15 miles of trails), splash park, dog park expansion, amphitheater site work and grading to provide the initial infrastructure to create outdoor music venue for Fort Worth, full loop equestrian trail facility, water sports, fishing, rowing, kayak and canoe with 4 white water elements.

Along with those Recreation Components we also learn about the Ecosystem Restoration with the aforementioned 75,000 Magic Trees, gravel pits cleaned up to create a beautiful wetland environment, the old landfill will be compacted and graded for citizens desired recreational needs, lake and wetland creation in the old drying beds of the Riverside Waste Water Treatment Plant and clean up and return water to the historic Riverside Oxbow.

_____________________________________

Where do I start?

Community requested recreational amenities? Have we not seen this odd verbiage previously with the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle? How does the community go about making these requests?

One of the nation's largest urban-programmed parks? What is an urban-programmed park?

Restore the original river channel? Where will that be?

The park will transform into a natural setting? I don't know of many natural settings with disc golf, soccer and baseball fields, covered basketball courts, dog parks and amphitheaters.

This project will connect East and Southeast Fort Worth to the Trinity River corridor? Really? How?

An old landfill will be compacted and graded for citizens desired recreational needs? There is that odd TRVB verbiage again. I have no idea where this old landfill in Gateway Park is. Are we talking about that methane gas spewing mound that is east of Gateway Park, on the other side of the Trinity River?

It is all just way too perplexing. And when is all this magic going to take place? Fort Worth does not seem able to maintain Gateway Park as it is. Washed out paved trails remain blocked by cyclone fence. Boardwalks remain closed, boarded up eyesores.

And that murdered armadillo still lays on the ground a few feet from where it was shot.

A River Legacy Trinity River Walk On A Freshly Painted Boardwalk While In Fort Worth...

Today I needed a mouse. I targeted Target as the location to get a mouse.

Target is near where the Indian Ghosts haunt Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area, so I figured after getting a mouse I'd go have myself a mighty fine time walking with my favorite ghosts.

Well, that plan went awry when I got to the Historical Area's parking lot to find it blocked, with the blocking gate telling me the park was closed due to flooding.

I then decided to drive a few more miles east and go walking in River Legacy Park, a location I don't think I had been to, this year, til today.

What you are looking at above is the Trinity River, flowing with a lot of water, with my river viewing vantage point provided by the River Legacy Park Boardwalk Overlook.

Arlington seems to maintain Boardwalks a bit better than Fort Worth maintains their Gateway Park Boardwalks, what with the River Legacy Park Boardwalk not being boarded up, not falling apart. And looking as if it has recently received a fresh coat of paint.

New signage has been installed at the trail head of the, currently closed, River Legacy Park mountain bike trail. There are three iterations of that which you see above. There's the big version you see here, in the parking lot, with two smaller versions, one at the entry to the mountain bike trail, one at the hiker's entry.

Very well done signage, showing all 12 miles plus of trail. The old sign was outdated, showing only the original few miles.

Arlington's River Legacy Park is, by far, the best park I've found in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

On Saturday I found rather bizarre signage in Fort Worth's Gateway Park, with that signage put up by America's Biggest Boondoggle.

I blogged about that signage in Finding Imaginative Sign Progress By America's Biggest Boondoggle On Saturday Gateway Park Bike Ride.

On that Gateway Park sign America's Biggest  Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision Boondoggle, tells the gullible The Boondoggle is launching projects which will turn Gateway into a "world class park" by adding some new restrooms and some other things, like benches and security lighting.

How it that Arlington builds what would seem to me to be what must be considered "world class parks" without putting up signs telling their park's many visitor that Arlington is turning a park into a "world class park"?

Would a world class city actually ever refer to anything about their town as "world class"?

It seems to me to be sort of, well, classless, to do so. That and tacky. And embarrassing.

Particularly when it is blatant propaganda puffery and not even remotely true....

Saturday Walk Through Gateway Park Checking The Boondoggle's Progress

I think til today it had been over a month since I'd done any treasure hunting at Town Talk.

Gateway Park is between my abode and Town Talk. So, I decided to walk around Gateway Park on the way to Town Talk, figuring I would check in on the progress of America's Biggest Boondoggle's construction in the park.

With the construction in Gateway Park being yet one more "product" of The Boondoggle I did not expect to see much progress, unlike the road and bridge building project taking place on the north side of Gateway Park, the upgrade to 1st Avenue East, which is making rapid progress, with the bridge piers for the bridge across the Trinity taking shape, but with no propaganda touting such as a major accomplishment.

Like I said the upgrade to 1st Avenue East is not a product of The Boondoggle. It appears to be a well engineered, well designed project, quickly getting built.

I digress. Back to Gateway Park.

The photo you see at the top. That is a sign near the trailhead for the Gateway Park mountain bike trail. If I remember right I have made mention of this sign previously. Today, looking at that sign, something struck me as noteworthy. Under the heading of things "Coming in 2015 to Gateway Park East" among the items on the list is "ADDITIONAL RESTROOMS".

Additional restrooms? How do you have additional restrooms when you currently have no public restrooms? A 100 feet north of the above sign you see that which you see below.

Yes, what you see above is what passes for a "restroom" in Gateway Park, just as it does in most of Fort Worth's city parks.

Outhouses.

As you can see this installation of outhouses has been prettified with a concrete enclosure. The plus-sized outhouse at the end is plus-sized so as to accommodate wheel chairs. Isn't that thoughtful? But there is no place to wash ones hands after using these outhouses. Isn't that disgusting? How does a town get away with having public parks with no running water? Isn't that some sort of health code violation?

The above outhouse installation is not the only one located on this parking lot. There are a few other outhouses sitting at other locations on this parking lot, but without the prettifying concrete enclosures. All the Gateway Park parking lots have outhouse installations.

More on the Gateway Park outhouses later as we take a walk to the west side of Gateway Park to check out the current state of the new overlook being built to replace the old boarded up eyesore that had been making eyes sore for a decade, give or take a year.

Well, there has been some progress since I looked at this a month or so ago. The overlook is taking shape. Looks like there is a lot to get done though if this is going to be open for overlooking by the end of 2015.

From the overlook I decided to head east on the paved trail to see the current status of one of the new trail bridges I saw in the making the last time I was at this location.

Well, the paved trail does not yet connect to the new footbridge, a wood plank currently makes that connection.

The Gateway Park paved trails are rather messed up by this project. Could it not be done in a more cohesive, less sloppy manner? The mountain bike trail has been messed with in several locations. A lot of work had gone into the mountain bike trails. A lot of work will be required to restore the mountain bike trails to their pre-Boondoggle glory.

I think I have mentioned previously that I find it bizarre how much America's Biggest Boondoggle likes its signage. Sign propaganda is about the only thing The Boondoggle does well.

The massive sign installation by the Fort Woof Dog Park in Gateway Park is the most astonishing bit of propaganda signage I have seen produced by The Boondoggle. I've made note of this a number of times, if my memory is serving me correctly.

The Boondoggle's Fort Woof signs have had an update. See the big sign above, in front of all the other signs? Notice another sign stuck under the big sign? Let's get a close up look at what that update is telling us.

Oh my, America's Biggest Boondoggle paid someone to make a new sign announcing "CONSTRUCTION NOW UNDERWAY". With  two scenic river overlooks, paved trail upgrades, children's learning center, pedestrian bridges, bench, water fountains and...

A NEW TRAILHEAD WITH UPGRADED RESTROOMS.

Upgraded restrooms? Are these different than the "Additional Restrooms" we read about on the first sign we saw today? There will be upgraded restrooms at a new trailhead? Where is this new trailhead? How do you upgrade restrooms in a park which has no restrooms?

Is The Boondoggle upgrading the outhouses? Maybe painting the concrete enclosures? Or putting concrete enclosures around the outhouses which are currently not so adorned?

I was recently told that the genius behind America's Biggest Boondoggle's propaganda of the signage sort you see in Gateway Park and those embarrassing slick quarterly updates The Boondoggle mails to voters who have never been allowed to voted on this project, telling those voters all the progress that has been made since the last quarterly update. You know, like the Fall of 2014 quarterly update breathlessly told about the TNT explosion that mark the start of construction of three simple little bridges being built over dry land to connect Fort Worth's mainland and an imaginary island.

Was it in the Spring quarterly update that we got told about the amazing feat of engineering achieved with the construction of the wooden forms for the little bridge's V-piers?

That paragraph that started with me saying I was recently told who the genius was behind The Boondoggle's propaganda turned into a run-on sentence that got away from me.  Anyway, I was told it was the notorious propaganda artist, Bryan Eppstein who is behind The Boondoggle's public relations. Apparently Eppstein was hired to help repair The Boondoggle's bad public image. I recollect mentioning something in relation to that, which had me offering advice for free regarding The Boondoggle's bad public image, with that advice being you can repair your bad public image by "Getting something done you clueless boobs" or something like that.

Did those running The Boondoggle really think that no one would notice that they have been Boondoggling along for well over a decade, with little to show for the effort?

Did The Boondoggle really think that no one would point out the fact that taking four years to build three simple bridges is just embarrassing? Taking longer to build than it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge, built over deep, fast moving water.

Did The Boondoggle really think no one would point out that their propaganda about building the bridges over dry land as a planned construction method, cheaper and easier than building over water, was an obvious lie? When the obvious fact of the matter is there will be no water under those bridges until the Trinity River is diverted in the ditch not currently being dug because The Boondoggle is not a fully funded project.

I was told Bryan Eppstein's propaganda firm has been paid a substantial amount of money to spew out The Boondoggle's propaganda, well over a million bucks. How does that work? The Boondoggle is not a private business. The Trinity River Vision in all its various names is some sort of quasi-public agency. The funds The Boondoggle spends are not private funds, the money spent is taxpayer money. So, The Boondoggle takes your money to build a project you have not voted to build, then takes more of your money to produce propaganda to convince you that they are doing a good job with that money you have given them.

I tell you, the Fort Worth Way of getting things done is very unusual....

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Explosive 28 Page Fall Propaganda Update

This morning in my mailbox I found a 28 page full color mailing, 28 pages of jaw dropping propaganda. The Fall 2014 Trinity River Vision Authority Update. I scanned a few of the 28 pages of propaganda for illustrative purposes.

On the second page of the propaganda we learn the "Trinity River Vision Authority is the organization responsible for the implementation of the Trinity River Vision (TRV) - a master plan for the Trinity River in Fort Worth. The TRV's primary focus is to provide needed flood protection but it will also connect every neighborhood in the city to the river corridor with new recreational amenities, improve infrastructure, provide environmental enhancements and manage event programming...."

"Needed flood protection"? If I have said it once I have said it ten dozen times, the area of The Boondoggle has been protected from floods for well over a half century due to flood control levees you in the rest of America paid for long ago. And now Fort Worth expects you to fork over some more money, this time for imaginary flood protection. And how can The Boondoggle possibly connect every neighborhood in the city to the river? I mean, it is a BIG city, with a very small river. Far north Fort Worth is going to be connected to the river? This is how propaganda works. You just get to make up stuff, just throw out nonsense, because you know no one is going to call you on it.

Also on the second page of the TRV propaganda we learn...

The Trinity River Vision will:

• Create Panther Island, a vibrant new urban waterfront neighborhood north of downtown
• Expand Gateway Park into one of the largest urban-programmed parks in the nation
• Enhance the river corridor with over 90 user-requested projects on the Trinity Trails
• Program public spaces including Panther Island Pavilion, a waterfront music venue and festival space directly adjacent to downtown Fort Worth

That user-requested projects claim amazes me every time I read that particular piece of propaganda. Who are these users? How did they make these requests? I'm a user. I'd like to make some requests. Requests like fire J.D. Granger, put The Boondoggle to a public vote, things like that.

In the TRV Updgate propaganda they seem to be real proud of the explosion that was set off by pushing on a TNT plunger to mark the official beginning of the construction of The Boondoggle's Three Bridges Over Nothing. Three Bridges which are such complex feats of engineering that they will take an amazing four years to build.

From the picture above it appears that the aforementioned J.D. Granger, his mama, Kay and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price were among the group who set off the explosion. I am wondering a couple things. One is how much did this explosion cost to explode? And who paid for it? Is the reason a simple shovel dirt turning groundbreaking did not suffice was because these Three Bridges Over Nothing are such a major construction project, bigger than the Golden Gate Bridge, bigger than the Panama Canal, bigger than, well, you get the point, bigger than all sorts of construction projects which did not begin with a big explosion.

Or take four years to build.

On the BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION ERUPTS page of the propaganda we learn "The groundbreaking (or should we say "blasting"?) ceremony took place on November 10 and construction is currently progressing full speed ahead."

More propaganda. Full speed ahead? These Three Bridges Over Nothing are pretty much being built in slow motion. If they ever get completed they likely will have been one of the longest bridge building projects in world history. Four years to build three very simple bridges. Over dry land. If the propagandists were forced to tell the truth that truth would be that the bridges are being built in slow motion due to a lack of funds, which is also the reason they are being built over dry land, due to the fact that J.D.'s mom has yet to come up with the federal money to pay for the un-needed ditch to bring some water under the dry bridges.

And then on page six of the propaganda we have the introduction of the Fort Worth Trinity Promenade.

From the Trinity River Promenade page of the propaganda...

While the primary purpose of the Bypass Channel is to provide flood control, it will also be the most striking waterfront feature of Panther Island, earning it the name Trinity River Promenade.

The Trinity River Promenade will be a system of urban parks connecting lakes, canals and marinas through a network of trails. These lively urban spaces, which will include features such as launches with convenient on-site storage for kayaks & canoes, will foster a healthy active lifestyle community and help to sustain the amazing quality of life in Fort Worth.

Wow! A network of trails connecting lakes, canals and marinas. Lakes? The Boondoggle's vision is now seeing multiple lakes? Amazing quality of life in Fort Worth? I am wondering if this newly introduced Trinity River Promenade will have modern restroom facilities? Or will it continue the amazing Fort Worth quality of life by using the outhouse restroom method, such as what is used at The Boondoggle's Rockin' the River Panther Island Pavilion Music Venue Happy Hour Inner Tube Float area?

And then we come to a couple pages about The Parks of Panther Island. I only scanned the first of the two Panther Island Parks pages.

Regarding the Parks of Panther Island the Boondoggle's propaganda tell us they were "Designed in conjunction with The Trinity River Promenade to foster an active lifestyle community, the Panther Island project now includes a system of seven new urban parks throughout the district..."

Why does The Boondoggle propaganda over and over again refer to "urban" parks. Fort Worth is a city. Aren't all parks in Fort Worth urban parks? It would be hard to have a rural park in a city. So, now The Boondoggle includes seven new parks. Four of the parks are named in the Boondoggle's propaganda. There is Promenade River Bank Park, Promenade Park South, Levee Park and Promenade Park North.

Skipping ahead past several pages of propaganda covering things like Panther Island Ice and the plethora of Panther Island Pavilion events, like Oktoberfest in September and those Rockin' the River floating beer parties, we come to two pages thanking the 2014 special event sponsors of four special events, the aforementioned Panther Island Ice, plus Fort Worth's Fourth, and the also aforementioned Rockin' the River and Oktoberfest.

What caught my attention on the two pages thanking sponsors was the blurb on the second page, that is it above, with the blurb saying "Thanks to generous support from our sponsors, TRVA delivered over $1 million in programming. This programming brought over 170,000 guests to the area, produced economic growth, created jobs and new memories and traditions."

Programming? The Boondoggle delivers programming? Worth over a $1 million? Who counted the number of guests? Who measured the alleged economic growth bought with that more than a million dollars of programming?

And then several pages later we come to yet one more unfortunate J.D. Granger quote. "As we move forward with the construction of Panther Island, it's important we embrace Fort Worth's rich history and memorialize it on the banks of the Trinity River."

So, Mr. Granger thinks it is important to embrace Fort Worth's rich history? Well, on the bluff, at the north edge of downtown Fort Worth, across the street from the Tarrant County Courthouse there is a park built to honor Fort Worth's rich heritage and history, called, appropriately, Heritage Park. Heritage Park has walkways which over look the imaginary Panther Island and the rest of the Boondoggle's messes.

Heritage Park has been a boarded up eyesore for years.

So much for paying propaganda lip service to memorializing Fort Worth's rich history on the banks of the Trinity River, which Heritage Park over looks.

Continuing on with our wade through The Boondoggle's propaganda we come to some interesting alleged facts about the Trinity Trails.

Again there is mention made of those user-requests. This time it is 90 user-requested trail improvements. Of these propaganda claims two stick out to me. 21 connected parks? Are there that many parks in all of Fort Worth, let alone being connected by some means? 31 connected neighborhoods? There are 31 neighborhoods in Fort Worth? And they are connected by trails? Or canoes?

And then, finally, we come to my favorite item in this surplus of absurd propaganda, Changes in 2015 for Gateway Park.

The strangest part of this info about Gateway Park is at the bottom, in small print, where it says "Gateway Park is a product of the Trinity River Vision."

A product?

In addition to learning Gateway Park is a product of The Boondoggle we also learn the Gateway Park product may be getting some new pedestrian bridges, picnic pavilions, canoe launches and a trailhead.

Along with more benches and tables, security lighting, restrooms and trails.

Additional restrooms? The only modern restroom facility in Gateway Park is in the softball complex, and it is locked unless there are games being played. Fort Woof in Gateway Park is served by outhouses, as is the soccer fields and other areas of Gateway Park, which, might I add, has picnic facilities, but, like most Fort Worth parks, no running water.

I will believe any of these "changes" in Gateway Park when I see them. Additional trails? Does this mean the trails damaged by flooding caused by Hurricane Hermine are finally going to be fixed?

Do these Gateway Park changes include fixing the park's Trinity River boardwalks? I blogged about those eyesores twice in September, the west boarded up boardwalk in A Moving Look At One Of Fort Worth's Boarded Up Gateway Park Boardwalks, the east boarded up boardwalk in Boardwalking In Fort Worth's Gateway Park Hunting For Endorphins & Copperheads. Both bloggings have video showing the decrepit condition of the boardwalks.

Also in September, in a blogging titled A Walk Through The Forest Of Trinity River Vision Gateway Park Master Plan Propaganda, I blogged about the bizarre TRV Boondoggle installation of signage by Fort Woof in Gateway Park, touting the imaginary wonders The Boondoggle will bring to Gateway Park. Also with video.

Back to today's 28 page piece of TRV Boondoggle propaganda. How much does it cost to print a publication like this? Does anyone know of any other public works projects, like The Boondoggle, that send out quarterly reports like this to the voters who have never voted on the public works project which really is not a public works project due to the fact the public has never voted for it?

Does the Dallas version of the Trinity River Vision send out quarterly reports? If they did, at least that vision has something to show, like that cool Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, which actually is a signature bridge.

I did make note of the fact that in its latest propaganda production The Boondoggle has ceased referring to its Three Bridges Over Nothing as being "signature" bridges which would become iconic Fort Worth images.

Ironically, I think there is a chance Fort Worth's Three Bridges Over Nothing may become iconic, but not in a way that will make the Fort Worth Boondogglers happy....

UPDATE: TRWD Board Member, Mary Kelleher, commented about the TRV Boondoggle's mailer on Facebook.....

TRV Mailer:

As a TRWD board member, I'm embarrassed by this mailer!! Durango is correct....it is pure propaganda!

This TRV project is all about economic development not flood control. There are actually plans to lower the levees in some areas so the public would have easier access to the Trinity River. The FW 7th Street area recently experienced flooding with just a few inches of rain due to increased development in the area. Imagine if the levees are lowered and we get a real flood?!

And Gateway Park on the east side of FW is now designated as a flood overflow area. You know why? Because the people on the west side of FW fought against it and won.

There is so much unpermitted construction in the flood plain and floodway that even the best engineer in the world can predict what will happen the next time the Trinity River gets out of its banks. I especially fear for the safety of FW residents south and east of the Trinity River, even into Arlington!

In addition, neither the reason for this mailer nor the request for funds to finance this mailer was presented before the TRWD board. I plan to ask for the cost associated with this mailer. Most of us know the likelihood of me getting that information though!

Our water supply is challenged by our existing infrastructure. Where do we plan to get the water to support the masses of people this project hopes to attract?!

One last thought!
YOU CAN'T DRINK MONEY!

What Is The Obstruction Blocking The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Gateway Park Master Propaganda Plan?

Last Saturday I snapped a picture of what I believe to be the most bizarre example of Trinity River Vision Boondoggle signage propaganda.

That being the Gateway Park Master Plan signage near Fort Woof in Fort Worth's Gateway Park.

This massive sign installation was installed sometime in the previous decade, if I remember correctly.

And now, well into the following decade, I don't believe a single thing touted on the propaganda signs is even remotely close to being seen by anyone's vision.

Thinking about the stalled Gateway Park Master Plan brought the current state of Bertha to mind.

Bertha is currently the world's biggest tunnel boring machine. Bertha is currently stuck by an unknown obstruction, about 70 feet underground, after boring about a thousand feet of a new transit tunnel which will run under Seattle, scheduled to be completed by 2015, replacing the earthquake damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct.

I don't believe there are any signs in the vicinity of the Bertha operation touting the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Master Plan.

And yet that plan is well underway, started well after the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle started boondoggling, with Bertha's tunnel slated to be completed before much of anything will be able to be seen, if ever, of the Gateway Park Master Plan's likely imaginary projects.

Is there something stuck regarding the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Gateway Park Master Plan of a metaphoric Bertha obstruction sort?

Some choice verbiage from one of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Gateway Park Master Plan's propaganda signs....

The Gateway Park Master Plan is an exciting component of Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision. The 1,000 acre park will be filled with new community-requested recreational amenities, making it one of the nation's largest urban-programmed parks. With the planting of over 75,000 trees and the restoration of the original river channel, the park will transform into a natural setting the entire region can enjoy. The project is expected to spur economic growth around the park and will connect the East and Southeast neighborhoods of Fort Worth to the Trinity River corridor.

Long ago, way back in 2011, I blogged about those promised 75,000 trees referenced in the above propaganda, known as J.D. Granger's Magic Trees, in a blogging titled J.D. Granger's Magic Trees Saving Arlington From The Trinity River While Not Worrying About Haltom City Getting Saved.

The Gateway Park Master Plan propaganda references "community-requested recreational amenities".

Community requested?

And how are these requests being made, I can not help but wonder?

We know these imaginary community requests are not made via any sort of public vote, because the public is not allowed to vote on any aspect of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

So, how are these alleged community requests for specific amenities being made?

Over drinks with J.D. Granger?

Hubris. Why is it that that word always comes to mind when I ponder the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and any of its various boondoggly aspects?

Rolling Past Fun Town On Arlington's River Legacy Park Mountain Bike Trail

Water had almost been fully re-installed in my swimming pool by this morning's regularly scheduled pool dip.

To be totally topped off the pool still had about a foot to go at that point in time, but the deep end was sufficiently deep to facilitate the acquisition of some much needed endorphins from stimulating aerobic activity.

It has been awhile since I have rolled my mechanized wheels to Arlington to roll my non-mechanized wheels on the River Legacy Park mountain bike trail, so I decided to do so today.

Several weeks ago I whined about the lack of directional signage pointing the way on Fort Worth's Gateway Park's mountain bike trails. A couple days after I whined some directional signage showed up, but not nearly as copious as the directional signage that points the way on River Legacy  Park's much more convoluted maze of  trail loops.

Above you are looking at my handlebars looking at the signage for Fun Town, plus some directional signage.

To the left, not caught on camera, is another directional sign, with that sign having two arrows, both pointing left and down, with the down part indicating a drop-off. One of  those arrows is red, indicating experts only should think about taking that option. The blue arrow points to a slightly less scary drop-off that reaches the same spot as the scarier drop-off.

That is the scary, experts only, drop-off  you see above. The picture does not do this drop-off justice. That and you aren't seeing the steep uphill that comes after the drop-off

I opted to avoid rolling over anything scary and continued on past Fun Town without indulging in that particular fun.

The subject of Fun Town came up weeks ago in Gateway Park. I'd had a going the wrong way incident with a couple of bikers. I got them turned around and led them back to where they needed to be. This was the incident which prompted me to whine about the lack of directional signage on Gateway Park's mountain bike trails, with me having no way of knowing such signage was in the works and about to be installed a few days later.

The couple of bikers I got turned around and I stopped to chat when we reached the location where I could point them in the right direction. The lady of the pair asked me if there were any difficult areas on the trail. I asked what she considered difficult. She asked if I had pedaled the River Legacy Park trails. I indicated  I had. She then said something like, "You know that steep drop-off you come to shortly after leaving the parking lot, and then the next drop-off that follows that, followed by more ups and downs? That I consider difficult."

To which I pointed to a spot on the trail and said she would not want to go past that point, because it gets a bit challenging, more so than that first challenging section in River Legacy Park.

And then, for some reason, I brought up the scary sections of the River Legacy Park trails, that being the EKG and Fun Town loops.

Well.

She then told me they rode Fun Town all the time. And that it is a lot of fun! I incredulously then asked if they actually went down that first steep drop-off with the experts only warning, to be told, no, they avoid that part.

So, I guess I am going to have to give Fun Town a try. And get there by pedaling the paved trail to its end, because if I get to Fun Talk by the mountain bike trail by the time I get there I would have already pedaled several miles.

Searching Fort Worth's Gateway Park For J.D. Granger's 80,000 Magic Trees

Yesterday prior to my regularly scheduled Saturday pre-Town Talk Gateway Park mountain bike ride I asked Has Anyone Seen The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Bridges Under Construction Since 2011?

Thinking about the Boondoggle's Bridges Over Nothing got me wondering about the Boondoggle's Gateway Park Master Plan as I rolled my wheels along with a lot of other wheel rollers.

It has now been a lot of years since the Boondoggle's Gateway Park Master Plan signage was installed touting the Boondoggle's imaginary Master Plan. As far as I can tell the only thing the Boondoggle has done in Gateway Park is to install the signs showing all that the Master Plan would entail if anyone was ever able to master the plan.

I recollect hearing J.D. Granger himself touting one aspect of the Gateway Park Master  Plan. That being 80,000 trees J.D. claimed were already being planted.

I remembered blogging about J.D.'s trees, so I entered "Magic Trees" into the blogs search tool to find that way back on April 1, 2011 I blogged about J.D. Granger's Army Of 80,000 Flood Protecting Trees Planted In Gateway Park To Save Arlington.

Four paragraphs from that blogging....

But, the strangest, funniest thing J.D. came up with was in response to a guy from Arlington verbalizing his concern that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle was going to make flooding worse in Arlington. That, and he asked J.D. if the people of Fort Worth get to vote on this project.

J.D. acted like he's been worn out by all the referendums and votes there have been on this project. Somehow I don't remember these taking place.

As for the flooding in Arlington, J.D. explains that the TRV is going to extreme lengths to make sure not one ounce of extra water goes one second faster towards Arlington during a flood.

With the prime facilitator of that flood control being the 80,000 trees now being planted in Gateway Park.

I've seen no trees being planted in Gateway Park.

Over three years later I've still seen none of J.D. Granger's Magic Trees planted in the Gateway Park zone.

Shouldn't those Magic Trees be in the ground, growing roots, so if the Boondoggle's Bridges Over Nothing actually get built, followed by the un-needed flood diversion channel, followed by a big flood, that those Magic Trees can slow down that rush of flooding water shooting through the flood diversion channel, aiming high speed at Arlington?

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Has Invaded Fort Worth's Eastside Regional Library With A Go Gateway Propaganda Billboard

Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Billboard In
Fort Worth Eastside Regional Library

Today all my endorphin inducing aerobically stimulating walking venues were compromised, to varying degrees, due to the unnatural amount of water that has fallen from the sky in the past 24 hours.

I assume the Village Creek Natural Historical Area is closed due to Village Creek flooding. The Trinity River is flooding, which has closed Quanah Parker Park and the Beach Street entry to Gateway Park. I could have gone to Oakland Lake Park and walked around Fosdic Lake under a bumbershoot, but I was in no mood for that.

So, with me in dire need of reading material, I decided to opt out of walking stimulation and instead go to the Eastside Regional Library and then Town Talk.

Imagine how appalled I was to be minding my own business, whilst book hunting, to find myself suddenly visually assaulted by an enormous chunk of Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Propaganda, plopped right in the open in the library, where impressionable young minds could have their vision of the future, forever warped, in disappointment, when this Vision Boondoggle meets its inevitable blind alley end.

On the Billboard, the map of the new "Gateway Park" shows it extending all the way east of the Trinity River, to Oakland Boulevard, with skate parks, soccer fields, softball fields and I don't know what else, atop what is now the humped up remains of a waste disposal site which regularly spews flames.

The text on the "Go Gateway" sign says.........

An exciting component of the Trinity River Vision is Gateway Park in Fort Worth's east side. The 1.000 acre park will be filled with community requested recreational amenities, such as a public skate park, an outdoor amphitheater and 15 miles of additional trails. Major strides will be made in restoring the park's natural ecosystem, including the planting of over 80,000 native oak and pecan trees. This massive effort will fuel development around the park and connect east and southeast neighborhoods to the Trinity River corridor.

Where do I start?

Community requested amenities? Really? By what means and when did the community request these amenities? Was it in that bond election that approved this project?

The Gateway Park part of the TRV Boondoggle only came to be when the TRV had to add on the un-needed flood diversion channel in order to get federal funds. Then to make the un-needed flood diversion channel work, a large area of wetlands was needed to absorb the accelerated flood waters. This then affected the existing Gateway Park, so it had to be added to the Vision, including the planting of J.D. Granger's 80,000 Magic Trees, a subject we have discussed previously.

The Trinity Trail Dam Bridge
 By Gateway Park Underwater Today

What is happening today is very interesting, flood-wise. Today is the first time the Trinity River has gone into rogue flood mode since the remnants of Hurricane Hermine dumped a lot of rain on North Texas.

All the wonderful Trinity River Vision Boondoggle flood control elements, like the Magic Trees, are years from protecting Fort Worth from a flood event, like today.

If those flood control elements ever do become a reality, which is highly unlikely, what becomes of places downriver, like Quanah Parker Park? Quanah Parker Park is also in Fort Worth.

And why is this huge Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Propaganda Billboard sitting in a public library? Where impressionable young minds, not wise to the wily ways of propaganda, will leave the library with Trinity River Vision visions of Sugar Plum Fairies, Dancing Lollipops, Magic Trees and other things which will likely never happen, planted in their innocent young minds by that nefarious purveyor of nonsense and fairy tales, J.D. Granger.

Why is the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle spending so much public money on propaganda signage? Why are they working so hard to sell their vision? It is not like they are making their case due to an upcoming election where the project will be voted on.

Really, what is the point of sticking a billboard like this, touting so many ridiculous claims, in a public library?

It is all very very perplexing.

Finding Myself In Gateway Park Surrounded By Thousands Of Bikers At The 2013 North Texas Toy Run

A Few Of The Thousands Of Bikes & Bikers

Every year since I moved to my current location, at some point in time during the Christmas Holiday Season time of the year I seem to manage to find myself accidentally experiencing the Annual Great North Texas Toy Run with its thousands of bikers on thousands of motorbikes.

This annual Toy Run is a spectacle to behold, the likes of which I certainly never experienced during my years of living in the sedate Pacific Northwest.

I suspect the reason I find myself surrounded by bikers year after year is that this event occurs on a Saturday, with the event staged in Gateway Park, with me finding myself, pretty much every Saturday, at Town Talk, a location right in the path of the thousands of bikers.

Today on my way to Town Talk I wanted to visit Gateway Park to get new photos of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Gateway Park Master Plan signage. For blogging purposes.

Well.

A phalanx of Fort Worth police were stopping vehicular traffic from entering the north entrance to Gateway Park, due to that area being the aforementioned Great North Texas Toy Run's staging area. I was informed I needed to make a U-Turn and was advised that the west entry to Gateway Park was not being blocked by bikers or Fort Worth police.

So, I headed to the west entrance, parked, got my photos of the Gateway Park Master Plan signage and then walked to the Toy Run staging area, drawn was I by the roar of the motorbikes and rock music blaring.

I walked amongst the assembled bikers whilst running my video camera. You can view the resulting video below.

Stuck In A Toy Run Roadblock

Even though the air was heated to somewhere in the 40s, the wind and lack of direct solar radiation, and insufficient outerwear coverage, quickly made  me colder than I like to be when no hot tub escape is in the near vicinity.

It was a quick escape from Gateway Park to the significantly warmer Town Talk where all I got was rabbit and monkey food in the form of broccoli, lettuce, carrots and bananas.

I wanted to be out of Town Talk and heading east on Randol Mill Road well before the departure, at one, from Gateway Park of the thousands of Toy Run bikers.

I missed that goal by about a minute, and so got stuck in a police roadblock  for about 20 minutes while all the bikers made their way down the road to their Interstate 30 destination and the throngs of onlookers seeking candy tossed by passing bikers.

Getting Past Gateway Park's Closed Trails I Found America's Biggest Boondoggle Being Busy

Before my regularly scheduled Saturday Town Talk treasure hunt my handlebars took me to Gateway Park for some trail inspecting.

As you can see the Trinity River is still roaring over Gateway Falls, making passage impossible across the river to continue on to beautiful downtown Fort Worth, or the Fort Worth Stockyards.

It has been a few years since I have pedaled from Gateway to the Stockyards, or downtown. That makes for a long bike ride.

After seeing my way west blocked by the still flooding Trinity, I turned around and headed to the Gateway Park mountain bike trail.

Above you are looking at the entry to the FWMBA (Fort Worth Mountain Bike Association) Gateway Park mountain bike trail. The sign says "SIDEWALK CLOSED", which it is, but it does not say the mountain bike trail, to the left, is also closed.

I did not attempt to roll my wheels on the mountain bike trail. Instead I chose to find out why the paved trail is closed.

Well, below is one reason for the closed paved trail.

Not only has a tree bent over to block the way, the wooden bridge across the ravine has been removed.

I later figured out why the wooden bridge is gone. The paved trails and wooden bridges seem to be in the midst of the upgrade promised by signage near the mountain bike trail entry where the Fort Worth Trinity River Central City Panther Island Vision Boondoggle informs us that trail upgrades, including new bridges, would soon be underway.

At the time I first read that I said I'd believe it when I see it. I guess that now makes me a believer.

Continuing on I discovered large sections of the paved trail have been removed, including sections which have long been an eyesore, that being fenced off sections of trail left dangling over the edge of the Trinity by the ravages of Hurricane Hermine, years ago. At the location you see above the paved trail previously continued til it hit a cyclone fence with signage informing that the trail was closed for maintenance. The trail continued past the cyclone fence, broken off, in places, dangling, waiting to fall into the river in other places.

The dangling trail and cyclone fence are gone. It appears new trail has been bulldozed, away from the river. All the wooden bridges have been removed. You can still cross those locations via dirt path, sort of like mountain biking.

Well, this will be a good thing, having the Gateway Park trails fixed. Gateway Park has the potential to be an extremely nice park. But, I don't quite understand how America's Biggest Boondoggle came to be in the trail fixing business.

I hope The Boondoggle  is able to build these new bridges in Gateway Park faster than the four years they plan to take to build their three little bridges from the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

Continuing, after Gateway Park I ventured a short distance west, to the aforementioned Town Talk where I got myself some big green peppers, black beans, garbanzos, Swiss Cheese, rye crackers, carrots, yogurt, two giant pumpkin pies, jalapeno kielbasa and other stuff I'm not remembering right now.

And now it is time for lunch....