Showing posts with label Airfield Falls Trailhead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Airfield Falls Trailhead. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Anonymous Takes Me To America's Biggest Boondoggle's Airfield Falls Trailhead Embarrassment

What?

The TRWD's Airfield Falls Trailhead project is not yet completed?

After so many years?

I learned this from someone named Anonymous who yesterday anonymously made a blog comment to a blogging which I blogged yesterday....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Breathing Free While Dallas/Fort Worth Has A Level Orange Ozone Action Day":

Fort Worth's beautiful Airfield Falls Trailhead.

Contractor hired to complete Airfield Falls Trailhead

The story is a little old. You must have missed it with your big move north and all. I'm still not seeing the C-9 sculpture that is supposed to be a feature of the Airfield Falls. 
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In its quarterly propaganda publication America's Biggest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Uptown Central City Panther Island Vision, has touted this Airfield Falls Trailhead being under construction among its meager accomplishments.

The Boondoggle being involved with this project, in cahoots with its parent Boondoggler, the TRWD, may explain why this million dollar plus project has languished like other aspects of the vitally needed flood control and economic project, which must not actually be vitally needed, or what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle would have been put to a public vote with funds raised the way public works projects are funded in more progressive, advanced, modern democratic parts of America, with the project finished years ago, with Fort Worth enjoying the benefits of this supposedly vitally needed flood control and economic development project.

Now that above paragraph is one horrendously long run on sentence.

And another thing. I've not read anything about The Boondoggle's bridge construction. The last news I read about those infamous non-signature little bridges being built over dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island was construction had to be halted due to a serious design flaw.

When the design flaw and bridge building stall was announced part of the story was it would take about a month to fix the problem and continue building those unique V shaped piers.

Its months later. What is the current status of The Boondoggle's four year bridge building plan? Stalled like the Airfield Falls Trailhead?

And, what is the current status of The Boondoggle's Wakeboard Park? You know, that little pond where a mechanical device towed a few people an hour around a pond, which no one figured out was not much of a feasible business model, due to the small number of paying customers possible. As in I think only four wakeboarders could wakeboard at a time. I don't know how long a wakeboard session might be. Let's say it is as short as ten minutes. That would allow, at most, 24 wakeboarders per hour. I'm sure the sessions were longer than ten minutes.

Can you imagine Disney signing on to a Disneyland ride which could only handle 24 riders an hour?

The Cowtown Wakepark seemed, to me, doomed to fail. Even though J.D. Granger embarrassingly touted it as being a really great thing, making this popular sport available to the people of Fort Worth longing to get towed around a pond of dirty water.

So, anyone know the current status of The Boondoggle's bridges and Cowtown Wakepark?

J.D. Granger been fired yet?

Friday, July 3, 2015

Jumpin Rudy Takes A Close Up Look At The TRWD's Airfield Falls Trailhead Boondoggle

Interesting email from Jumpin Rudy this morning...

In today's Star-Telegram: Airfield Falls Trailhead remains unfinished months after it was scheduled to open.

Seems like late is normal for TRWD. I've been watching this project for a while, periodically climbing over the No Trespassing barriers to get a better look. It's quite impressive. Someone spent a lot of money on installing landscaping and irrigation. The landscaping hasn't been well tended after installation, though. The last time I was out, they were working on a huge post to mount the pieces of the C-9.

My guesses: 
  • there are design/engineering/safety issues trying to mount pieces of an aircraft on a 20-foot pedestal
  • this project is over budget

It's odd for a normal public entity to withhold comment for such a large project, but history shows TRWD is anything but normal.
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I was unable to read the Star-Telegram article, due to not being a subscriber, but I think I can glean from Jumpin Rudy's final sentence that the TRWD refused to comment regarding the tardy project.

I thought I remembered America's Biggest Boondoggle including propaganda about this Airfield Falls Trailhead project in one of their quarterly mailings touting all the imaginary things they have done or are going to do.

I Googled "Airfield Falls Trailhead" and at the top of the list was a link to America's Biggest Boondoggle's website, with the link going to a page from February 2, 2013 titled Airfield Falls Trailhead Update. That is a screen cap of part of that page you see above.

Two paragraphs from the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Vision Boondoggle's Airfield Falls Trailhead Update....

Last year the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) began working to create a one-of-a-kind trailhead at the entrance to Tarrant County’s only natural waterfall located in Westworth Village. The Airfield Falls Trailhead is located adjacent to the Pumphey Drive entrance to the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base.

In addition to new recreation opportunities, the project also focuses on another of TRWD’s missions with the addition of a conservation garden. The trailhead will feature native plants so visitors to Airfield Falls will be able to see how and what to plant during different seasons. This beautiful new trailhead is currently being designed and construction is scheduled for spring 2013.

So, according to Jumpin Rudy the conservation garden, mentioned in the TRCCUPIV Boondoggle's propaganda got installed and then got neglected.

Well, the Boondoggle  propaganda did say this garden would feature native plants so visitors can see how and what to plant during different seasons. So, I guess the Boondoggle lesson is to plant plants native to Texas, then let them fend for themselves, just like they would have to do growing naturally in Texas.

Yeah, I'm sure that's the lesson.

When is the plug going to get pulled on America's Biggest Boondoggle? I hope it isn't after something tragic happens like someone getting attacked by an alligator, water moccasin or snapping turtle while Rockin' the River at the Boondoggle's imaginary island...