That video contained no useful information of the factual sort which in anyway explained how or why these simple little bridges have been so difficult for Fort Worth to build.
Over dry land.
Bridges to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, with that imaginary island not really an island, but in actuality, if it is ever dug, a chunk of land surrounded by water in the form of a cement lined ditch filled with diverted polluted Trinity River water.
And then a day or two after the Star-Telegram's propaganda video showed up about the Boondoggle's bridge detours, another article appeared, the headline of which you see above, asking Why is it taking so long to build those bridges over the Trinity River?
I saw that headline and thought, wait, what? The Star-Telegram is finally publishing an article looking into why those bridges which began construction in 2014 are still in an early stage of being built, four years later, when, originally these simple little bridges were supposed to take an astonishing four years to build. Longer than it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge over actual, real, treacherous water.
And now the Boondoggle's bridge construction timeline has been stretched to 2020.
So, I eagerly read this article, thinking the Star-Telegram is finally doing some honest investigative journalism, perhaps actually telling its few readers about all the engineering complications and disagreements the design of the V-piers have caused.
But, in true Star-Telegram fashion, one reads this entire article to find not one iota of an answer to the question asking why it is taking so long to build these three simple little bridges.
Yesterday there was only one comment to this Star-Telegram article, with someone named Will Smith asking...
An interesting article, but it doesn't answer the headline's question: Why IS it taking so long to build those bridges?
Let's take a look at some of the erroneous nonsense in this latest Star-Telegram propaganda piece about America's Biggest Boondoggle's pitiful bridges...
The first paragraph...
Three bridges over Fort Worth’s Trinity River just north of downtown are now set to open in 2020, a year later than previously scheduled.
Uh, no. Construction of those bridges began with an absurd TNT explosion celebration back in 2014, with the then four year construction timeline having the construction of the simple, little bridges completed in the year we are in now. 2018. We blogged about this already way back then in A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late.
And again the Star-Telegram repeats one of the biggest lies associated with this bridge building boondoggle...
Construction of the bridges is taking place over dry land to save time and money, said Val Lopez, Texas Department of Transportation spokesman. Once the bridge work is done, the new river channel can be dug beneath them.
The bridges are not being built over dry land to save time and money. There was never any option but to build the bridges over dry land. Due to the fact that funding for the ditch and diversion dam does not yet exist. It does not take being an engineering whiz to think that digging the ditch and the bridges at the same time makes more sense than digging the ditch under the bridges after they are built, with that idea seeming fraught with the possibility of more project stalling complications.
Does the Star-Telegram have any editors who check this drivel before it goes to print? Like this gem...
The island would be built in the area that currently features LaGrave Field and the Coyote Drive-In.
Island would be built? Whoever wrote this thinks an island is going to be built? In an area which currently features a closed eyesore of a cobbled together baseball park and an equally tacky looking drive-in movie theater? The writer failed to mention one of the Boondoggle's early failures on the imaginary island, that being Cowtown Wakepark, which the Boondoggle's project manager, J.D. Granger long ago breathlessly bragged this doomed to fail operation would bring the coveted sport of wakeboarding to an urban setting.
And this paragraph with another bit of propaganda erroneousness...
Panther Island has been planned for more than a decade, and at times the Trinity River Vision Authority has struggled to obtain funding for the project, which is being billed not only as an economic development effort but a crucial flood control improvement project to protect Fort Worth’s city center from future storm water drainage problems.
Panther Island has been planned for more than a decade? Really? What, and kept a secret from the public til years later? Way back in September of 2010 I was biking the Trinity Trails and near what later become the now defunct Cowtown Wakepark I encountered my first instance of bizarre over the top Trinity River Vision signage in full TOUT the project mode. I blogged about this in The Trinity River Vision Is Underway With A Lot Of Signs.
At that point in time, eight years ago, what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle was still referred to as the Trinity River Vision. Over time additional monikers have been used, such as Central City and Uptown. And then a few years ago suddenly what had been known as the Trinity River Vision morphed into Panther Island, where there is no island, where there never will be a legitimate island. Which is actually a perfect metaphor for the entire mismanaged boondoggle.
And again the Star-Telegram repeats the lie that this is a crucial flood control project, protecting Fort Worth's city center, where there has been no flooding for well over half a century, due to massive levees which have kept the Trinity River under control ever since they were built back in the 1950s.
And the following, most outrageous bit of misinforming propaganda in this article...
In May, Fort Worth-area voters approved the issuance of about $250 million in bonds to ensure there would be enough local money to build Panther Island, much of which is being federally funded.
On the ballot, the bond measure which was approved, indicated the money was supposedly for flood control and drainage. There was no mention made of the money being approved for ensuring there was enough local money to build the imaginary island.
And the following on the same subject from one of those responsible for creating America's Biggest Boondoggle...
Jim Oliver, water district general manager, said the approval of the bond sales by about two-thirds of voters was “very important. It’s going to allow us to complete the project, keep it online and on track.”The money is needed to buy land, rechannel 1.5 miles of the river and build water storage areas and floodgates, he said.
So, Oliver is admitting the verbiage on the ballot measure was a fraud. The Boondoggle and its Godmother, Kay Granger, have used the fact this measure passed to refute the claim, made by many, that the public has never been allowed to vote on this pseudo public works project. Such would be true only if the ballot measure somehow asked voters whether or not they approved of the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision project. Instead the ballot measure asked voters to approve a quarter billion bucks for flood control and drainage.
Outrageous fraud, just as fraudulent as this article in the fraudulent Fort Worth Star-Telegram...
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