15 replies to this topic

[johnfwd]

Okay, sometimes I bicycle for miles on the Trails when I'm the only one around and there's no clutter of apartments or businesses (I'm not unreasonable and will tolerate a little development along either bank of the Trinity River).  A little solitude, time and space to reflect on life, and to enjoy the water, ducks, geese, grass, trees, with no one to bother you.  Regrettably, the "only me and no one else" is going to end on almost all points along the Trails sometime in our future.  There are mixed-use projects (offices, retail establishments, townhomes) planned or underway along the river.  There are likely to be more restaurants, too.  Yeah, maybe like the river walk in San Antone.  Hooray?  Or whatever happened to the "natural wilderness" aspect of the Trinity River in Fort Worth?  Will the wild life fly away when the developers take over?   And increased pop will generate more runners and bikers like me, Ugh!  I guess I'll be having to say "on your left" a lot more often in the future!

[Volare]

I would hope that in the most central and busy portions of the trail we would see separated portions for wheeled users (bikes and rollerblades) and walkers/runners. This already exists in the busy sections of trails around Vancouver and Portland as well as other places I visit.

 

On our Trinity Trail, I would think between Main Street and University would be prime for such treatment already, and maybe even as far as Hulen.

[Fort Worthology]

I feel like there's nothing "natural" about the trails or the river in central-city FW as they are now, really - the whole thing is a manufactured drainage ditch cooked up by the Corps of Engineers decades ago that we put some trails and trees around to make up for the fact that the river completely lost its actual natural feel.

 

It was inevitable that more people would want to use the trails as the city grows, and development would happen along them (especially as we get rid of the levees blocking us from directly interacting with the river).  Personally I've always felt weird when I'm out there and nobody else was.  I like having people around.

 

I do think that it will be necessary to expand the trail infrastructure to accommodate more people.  And there are already the crushed rock trail sections for walkers/runners around downtown - more of that, and making the paved paths wider would be nice too.

[Volare]

Agree with you completely regarding the state of the Trinity in Fort Worth. What we have is little more than a grass covered LA River:

 

 

In my travels I don't find urban rivers treated very naturally. Even in downtown Portland, the Willamette is a ship channel:

 

 

One of the few nice examples of a natural urban river that I've seen was in Boise. This photo taken about a mile from downtown:

 

 

Finally, as far as our trails, I'd like to see some signage to separate wheeled and non-wheeled traffic as much as possible in these high traffic areas. As seen in Vancouver:

 

[John T Roberts]

I also agree with you Kevin.  However, I will admit that I would rather have the grass ditch and levees than a concrete paved drainage channel.

[ramjet]

Wow.  I hate to post this.  But FWA Forum has become such a downer that I'm checking out.  I kinda think that's why several others have as well.  Just don't know.  My last comment:  Fort Worth is a fabulous, magnificent, happening, place and I would love to have a place to celebrate that.  Sorry, John, lately it's just not here.  Looking for an alternative.  Fort Worth will continue on without FWF.  It was fun while it lasted.

[Austin55]

To compare the Trinity to the LA river is a bit ridiculous.  Sure it's a manufactured channel at this point, but it has to be from what I understand about it flooding (which admittedly isn't much). But it's got significantly more water, there is a fair amount of trees in some places, and it's a bit sparse in some places. But you can kayak in it, tube in it. And it's becoming more popular to do either. 

While he Trinity has largely been ignored for FW's history, it's certainly not as bad as many urban rivers in the U.S. The fact you can walk right up to it is a huge benefit. If we are going to compare cities, look at how much Dallas has turned it's back on the Trinity, especially near the CBD. Houston has done a bit better but it's still not pleasant. San Antonio is of course a special case.

 

And I think, though it will be years away, that Panther Island will completely alter the way we view the Trinity. It already has not just in terms of thinking, but by doing things like hosting concerts and whatnot along it. 

Simple fixes like the gravel paths are nice to for runners. Agree that more of that can't be bad or expensive. 

[renamerusk]

Wow.  I hate to post this.  But FWA Forum has become such a downer that I'm checking out....lately it's just not here.  Looking for an alternative.

 

 Sorry to read your post. Every thoughtful voice is needed and helpful to our discussion.   Hope that you will reconsider because you shall be missed.

 

Keep Fort Worth folksy

[John T Roberts]

Ramjet, I do hope you reconsider.  Everyone's opinions are appreciated and any time we have someone leave the forum, their comments are missed.

[Keller Pirate]

Love the picture of the LA River.  I used to work just to the left of the photo and have driven my car in the bottom of the river.  I have also seen it when it was full of water right up to the top.

[Volare]

Love the picture of the LA River.  I used to work just to the left of the photo and have driven my car in the bottom of the river.  I have also seen it when it was full of water right up to the top.

 

I'm sure if you measured the angles of the banks of that LA River it's within a couple of degrees of the banks of our Trinity channel. Check out that bridge in the distance too and tell me that it doesn't remind you of the old sections of the old 7th Street bridge. There are some sections of the LA River that have concrete banks but still have a dirt bottom with trees growing:

 

 

There is a movement out there to tear out the concrete ditch and change it to something more like what we have here.

 

One of the benefits of the TRV is they are going to lower the angle of the banks to allow people to walk down to the water edge. Not really practical or safe to do that now in many places other than around Panther Island Pavilion.

[RD Milhollin]

I enjoy riding my mountain bike along the Trinity River trails, and I do enjoy the quiet during the week and on cooler days when there are not so many people out and about. I think it is a little unrealistic to expect the trails to be all wilderness solitude, especially in the areas near downtown and where development comes close to the river. I think a good mix of activity where commercial ventures or public recreational amenities face the river is a good thing, for the people who have access to the river, and for the river to be appreciated and maybe treated a little kinder by the people who are fortunate to come into contact with it. The quiet areas between the nodes of activity are still there, and I don't think that development is going to overrun all the trails. Perhaps the best way to address this over the long run is a form of zoning in which some areas are set up for more intense development, sort of clustered to make it easier to monitor and police the activities taking place there, and to provide sufficient support (trash collection, utility connections, etc.) while other stretches set aside as open-space with surrounding woodland to provide the urban solitude that is missing in so many cities.

[Doohickie]

Sure the Trinity is an artificial drainage channel, but there is still lots of wildlife in the area; it's almost like a linear game preserve. I think we've all noticed the water fowl during the day. If you've ever been out on the Trinity at night, you see that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are coyotes, skunks, armadillos, foxes, rabbits, all kinds of stuff out there. I've had some pretty close encounters when riding my bike on the trails at night; the animals don't realize you're coming until you're right on top of them. (Luckily my closest encounter with a coyote caught us both by surprise and he bolted away from me instead of toward me.)

[Volare]

Funny story about the wildlife on the trail. A friend of mine was riding his road bike early one morning out near Acme. It was dark but he had a headlamp. Suddenly a black and white thing flashed under his front wheel and his bike skidded to a stop. A skunk's tail had become entagled in the chain and had gotten stuck in the rear cassette. Nothing about this ended well for either my friend or the skunk...

[johnfwd]

My postscript...I'm ambivalent about this.  Love the flora and fauna, but also want to see our city continue to grow and prosper, even if it means commerce and townhomes along the Trinity River-- just so it doesn't become "privatized" so that the public runners, walkers, and bikers are denied access.  I remember as a kid what happened when "Luther's Lake" was privatized and I could no longer go down there to do my crawdad fishing and frog gigging!

[johnfwd]

I took this photo on the Trinity Trails looking north toward the Clearfork/Edwards Ranch mixed-use project.  I'm afraid these guys won't be sharing the shade at this location for too much longer.