Look At Washington's Deception Pass Bridge & Fort Worth's Texas Bridge Deceptions

I saw the photo you see here, yesterday, on Facebook. A photo from my old Washington home zone.

I lived about 25 miles east of this bridge.

That tree covered hill you see rising from the far side of the bridge is known as Goose Rock. This was a frequent hiking location for me when I lived in an area with multiple such scenic hiking venues.

That structure over water, connecting those land masses is known as Deception Pass Bridge.

Seeing this photo of Deception Pass Bridge managed to bring the Texas town of Fort Worth to mind.

There were many things about Fort Worth which perplexed me upon exposure, due to much being so alien from my experience growing up in liberal, progressive, modern, Washington state.

Deception Pass Bridge was built in the early 1930s. Taking less than a year to build. Over actual water, connecting to actual islands.

This century I watched the town of Fort Worth struggle to build three simple freeway overpass type bridges, over dry land, taking seven years to do so, after a TNT explosion celebrating the start of the astonishingly long construction project.

Those Fort Worth bridges began construction around a decade after a public works project the public did not vote for, known then as the Trinity River Vision, began. A supposedly vitally needed economic development and flood control scheme. 

Flood control where no flooding had happened for over half a century due to flood control levees already in place.

So vitally needed that a quarter century after the Trinity River Vision began trying to be seen, there is little to see.

And then you have Deception Pass Bridge, built almost a century ago, over actual water, connecting three actual islands.

Fort Worth's three little bridges which took seven years to build, over day land, were, by now, supposed to have cement lined ditches dug under them, with Trinity River water diverted into the cement line ditches, creating what Fort Worth already calls Panther Island.

No, you reading this in sane America, I am not making this up. Fort Worth thinks this bizarre project will result in an island. And that this will be a popular attraction for the town.

Meanwhile, due south of "Panther Island", at the north end of downtown Fort Worth, we have Heritage Park, overlooking "Panther Island".  Heritage Park purports to celebrate Fort Worth's heritage and history. But, it has been a boarded-up eyesore since 2009. 

I first blogged about this in 2009 in Amon G. Carter Foundation Fort Worth Heritage Park Fix. And many times after that, such as Why Is Another Million Dollars Needed To Fix Fort Worth's Heritage Park Embarrassment?

A couple months ago I asked Elsie Hotpepper if Heritage Park is still a boarded up eyesore. Elsie told me such was the case. I assume I would be told otherwise if this was no longer the case.

Truly perplexing...