Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Taking A Ride On The Scale Model Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Bypass Channel With J.D. Granger



I am guessing I am not the only person who has viewed the above video who found it to be jaw droppingly bizarre.

The video shows you a scale model version of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, with that scale model being the size of a football field. I have no idea where this scale model is located. Or when it was made.

The scale model did not seem to include the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's greatest achievements to date, those being the Coyote Drive-In Movie Theater and the Cowtown Wakepark.

In the video we hear some guy tell us how people will be able to take a ferry boat from downtown Fort Worth to the Fort Worth Stockyards, via, I think, the flood diversion bypass channel.

And here I thought I was joking when I asked if there would be cruise ships docked on Pond Granger if the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle ever becomes anything anyone can see.

In part, apparently, the scale model was built to test whether or not this alteration of the Trinity River would actually work. And so, to test how well the re-designed river will handle litter during a flood, a flood was simulated, with pieces of paper tossed in the flooding scale model Trinity River to simulate litter.

Methinks whoever was doing this litter testing has not eye witnessed the astonishing amount of litter which flows in the Trinity River when it is in flood mode.

Scale model logs were also thrown in the scale model river to test if log jams would form at the new bridges being built to cross the un-needed flood diversion bypass channel. The bridges passed the scale model log jam test.

Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Executive Director, J.D. Granger, shows up several times in this video to share with us his vision of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

At one point J.D. is totally gaga over Vancouver's Granville Island. Why it was almost a religious epiphany for J.D. seeing this development in Vancouver where people could shop, walk, ride their bike and get on a boat.

The way J.D. describes his vision one would think such mixed use developments have not developed anywhere else on the planet. Except, I guess, Vancouver. And now, Fort Worth.

Has J.D. never been to San Diego? Portland? San Francisco? Seattle? Or, on the other coast, New York City? Miami? Boston? Or the middle of America, like Chicago? Or places in Europe, like Amsterdam? Or London? Or Paris? Or towns in Asia, like Shanghai? Or places like Singapore? Or Sydney?

Listening to J.D. Granger, almost breathlessly describe the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, well, troubling is the word that comes to mind.

Let me see if I can paraphrase/parody J.D. in the above video...

"What we are seeing here is an accomplishment that has not been accomplished anywhere else where things get accomplished. When we designed this project we did what is not usually done. We addressed all  the issues that go into making a space a special space. Transportation. Recreation. Housing. Flood Control. When this project is completed in time for my great grand children to enjoy it, in 2040, my dream is for it to be so special that my great grand children never ever want to leave Fort Worth."

At no point in this propaganda video is it mentioned that this project is not funded. It is not mentioned that this public works project has not been voted on by the public. It is not mentioned that over half the funding, as in around 500 million dollars, is based on the assumption that somehow federal dollars will be sent to Fort Worth for this ridiculous boondoggle.

In the meantime, even though the money to build this project does not exist, even though the public has not voted on this public works project, eminent domain has been abused to destroy dozens of businesses and disrupt I don't know how many lives.

None of that is mentioned in this propaganda video either......

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