Trespassing On A Neglected Fort Worth Bridge Over Troubling Waters

The person, other than myself, who reads my blog, may be thinking in the picture on the left you are looking at the bridge across the Trinity River in Arlington's River Legacy Park, because it sort of looks like that bridge.

But, a person thinking that this bridge is that bridge would be erroneous.

Today I took a walk in my neighborhood, walking north under the power lines which hover above my neighborhood Green Belt.

I walked the Green Belt til it came to Randol Mill Road. Then crossed the road to get to the other side.

On the north side of Randol Mill Road one comes to the aforementioned bridge.

Due to this bridge being old, really old, there is some structural damage. Which is likely the reason for a NO TRESPASSING sign that did not seem too insistent, so I climbed over the gate upon which the NO TRESPASSING sign was attached and walked across the bridge. The above view is past the NO TRESPASSING sign.

You might think that that water you are looking at, looking east, midway across the bridge, is the Trinity River. You would be wrong to think that.

A long time ago this bridge did cross over the Trinity River. But then, in a Trinity River Vision of the last century, the Trinity River was moved to a new channel, a short distance north, in order to get rid of an oxbow bend in the river, which turned the oxbow bend into a long, narrow, small lake.

I don't know where this Trinity River remnant gets its water.

Above you are looking west, midway across the bridge. In this picture you can see some of the damage that is the reason for the NO TRESPASSING sign. The railing that keeps one from falling off the bridge is missing, eroded into oblivion by the passage of time.

Continuing on north I eventually came to the levee that keeps the Trinity River from overflowing when it goes into flood mode. Walking on that levee I eventually came to view the western termination of the cut off oxbow bend in the river, which you see above.

Walking on the levee soon brought houses into view. These houses are in a gated community called either Oxbow Estates or Riverbend Estates, or maybe something else. I've driven by the south side of this community, on Randol Mill Road, hundreds of times. One would think I would remember the precise name of the community, but I don't.

Walking the levee was interesting, getting to view the inside of one of my neighborhood's gated communities. The above was the second of two small ponds I walked by. I suspect there are more ponds that I did not see. Big homes had waterfront property due to the ponds.

Back to the subject of the bridge with the NO TRESPASSING sign. This area looked, to me, to be yet one more neglected park opportunity in Fort Worth.

Methinks Fort Worth should fix up the neglected bridge, turning it into access to the levee, which has an excellent trail on top. With just a little effort this stretch of levee trail could connect to the paved trail at Quanah Parker Park, a short distance to the west.

I make this suggestion somewhat selfishly, because today I realized how fun it would be if I could ride my bike north on my neighborhood Green Belt, then cross Randol Mill Road to cross the Neglected Bridge, to then go pedal on the Trinity River Levee.

If Fort Worth actually had a Trinity River Vision which made sense, rather than the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, that makes little sense, Fort Worth could have a lot of little projects underway, enhancing the town, all over town, like towns which wear Big City Pants manage to do, but which Fort Worth, for reasons unfathomable to me, does not manage to do, even with with Fort Worth being well known, planet-wide, as one of the Greatest Cities in the World...