Trinity plan faces obstacles
Money may be largest after designs unveiled
The Dallas Morning News
March 14, 1999
Author: Robert Ingrassia; Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News
Estimated printed pages: 4

Dallas residents are getting a peek this month at colorful pictures of what could be the Trinity River's future.
The drawings - drafted by city consultants - are of huge blue lakes, brick promenades, scenic overlooks and green parks. Suspension bridges designed by a famous architect span the river.

A series of meetings to gather public comment on the designs ends Monday. Planners agree that the concepts have some obstacles to clear in the journey from dream to reality.

Money may be the biggest hurdle.

Dallas voters have approved a $246 million bond issue for river projects, including a toll road, levees, lakes and a forest preserve. Federal and state agencies, joined by other public entities, plan to spend millions more.

The concepts include ambitious lake and bridge designs that could cost far more than the city and other public entities have contemplated spending.

Technical questions about water quality, maintenance and drainage also dog the lake plans. The bridge concepts, featuring suspension designs developed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, pose tough timing issues.

City officials said the plans present a framework for transforming the Trinity from an unsightly flood-control ditch into an urban greenbelt. The proposals can't force the city or anyone else to spend extra money, officials said.

"What we're looking for here is a plan that provides for the orderly and consistent development of the floodway," said David Dybala, the city's public works director. "We don't want to limit the plan to only the funding that's available. But at the same time, we want to make sure the plan gives us a good return on the money we do spend."

The consultants haven't placed price tags on the concepts. They acknowledge that they created the ideas without a budget in mind. They also drew amenities such as pedestrian bridges, promenades and landings that are not specified in the city's Trinity bond package.

Critics call the plans further evidence that the cost of implementing the city's Trinity vision is spiraling out of control. Opponents also warn that the drawings of lakes and parks mask the noise and air-pollution problems a proposed highway along the river would cause.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's all still pie-in-the-sky," said Mary Vogelson, a League of Women Voters of Dallas member who helped lead the group's opposition to the city's Trinity ideas. "What about water quality? What about flood conveyance? What about cost? What about the smell? We just wasted a lot of money on more pretty pictures without answering any of the basic questions."

To be refined

City officials say they knew they would see ambitious concepts when the City Council hired the Dallas engineering firm Halff Associates to create a Trinity master plan. The firm, which is being paid $1.5 million, intends to refine the plans before submitting a report to the council in June.

City officials say that to invest the $246 million in bond money without having an overall vision in place would be foolhardy. They say the master plan, which is to include a detailed study of the lake concepts, will shape the spending of the bond money and suggest later developments.

"Part of the public's frustration is that they want answers right now," said Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan, who oversees the Trinity plans. "The questions will be answered as part of the study. But you don't give up on something before you at least have an opportunity to study it and decide how to proceed."

Halff Associates has developed several concepts for downtown lakes. One calls for creating a lake by damming the river. Three others would have the lakes dug out from the floodplain along the river channel.

One proposal would split the river north of downtown, with lakes built between the channels. All of the plans show a lake or lakes that would stretch for several miles and cover hundreds of acres.

The bond issue sets aside $31.5 million for lake construction. City officials hope to stretch that money by tapping into the proposed Trinity Parkway, a toll road that would stretch 10 miles from State Highway 183 near Irving to U.S. 175 southeast of downtown Dallas.

The road is supposed to be built on dirt platforms inside existing levees along both sides of the river. Officials intend to get the dirt from the floodway, creating holes big enough for lake beds in the process. The city's lake money would be used to turn the holes into lakes by adding edges, landscaping and other features.

Mayor Ron Kirk says residents should not be alarmed by the master plan, though it includes elements that might have to be paid for through future bond issues.

"The master plan is just going to be a vision for how everything will fit together," he said. "The dollars we approved are going to be spent in the way we said they'd be spent. This was just the first installment in a 15-year redevelopment effort."

"Language of bridges'

The bridge ideas come with their own challenges. The consultants created a model showing a series of arched suspension bridges over the river. Jim Carrillo, Halff's director of planning, urged residents at a recent public meeting to think about creating a thematic "language of bridges."

Much of the talk will be about money. The state and city are teaming up to extend Woodall Rodgers Freeway over the Trinity into West Dallas, a project that would cost about $40 million if a typical freeway span were built.

State transportation officials said a suspension bridge would cost millions more, but no one has studied the idea enough to say how much more. The city's river bond program includes $28 million for the Woodall project; the rest would have to come from the state or other sources.

David Laney, chairman of the powerful Texas Transportation Commission, said city leaders should press the state to help pay for a standout Woodall bridge.

Seize the moment

"This is truly a one-time opportunity," said Mr. Laney, whose commission controls the state's highway spending. "We don't want to leave for future generations something for people to say, "Why did we miss an opportunity?' "

Timing is vital on the Woodall project and other freeway spans set to be replaced in the coming years, including Interstate 30 and Interstate 35E. State engineers already have designed "plain vanilla" structures for the freeway bridges, plans that would have to be scrapped if suspension spans were built.

Two new bridges that would be part of the Trinity Parkway also are targeted in Halff's plan for arched spans. But even without the added costs of suspension structures, that project already faces a sizable funding shortfall.

The city's share is $84 million, which Dallas voters approved in the river referendum. The North Texas Tollway Authority and the state are supposed to pay the rest of the nearly $400 million cost.

"The concepts that are coming forward are exciting," said Jerry Hiebert, the toll agency's executive director. "But we recognize the ultimate litmus test is whether they're financially feasible."

Halff Associates plans to conduct another round of public meetings in May. The council is tentatively scheduled to review the firm's work and adopt a Trinity master plan in June.
  Caption:
ILLUSTRATION(S): (DMN: Beto Alvarez) Trinity River Planning. /A proposed Interstate 30 bridge designed by architect Santiago Calatrava.;
Edition:  THIRD
Section:  NEWS
Page:  37A
Copyright 1999 The Dallas Morning News
Record Number:  4039504