Letting Kay Granger's son run the project for way too many years was a huge detriment to the project. The whole thing has been mismanaged from the start.
I agree completely.
Yet I'm still pro-Panther Island, and I support its timely completion. Panther Island has huge potential to serve as a role model for walkable, central-city urban revitalization in otherwise-sprawling cities. While some changes have been made from the original Bing Thom-designed plan, I greatly appreciated his urban planning and architectural philosophies. The whole concept of adapting Vancouverism to a Sun Belt city like Fort Worth was absolutely fascinating.
I do expect funding cutbacks with the incoming administration, which could hamper plans to complete the bypass channel; the realization of Panther Island as a whole relies on the completion of the bypass channel, which has been holding up the entire project. Inflation has also eroded the value of any funding already allotted. Fortunately, the three signature bridges are already in place, but there are other preliminary projects that must be completed (utility relocations, raising University Drive, etc.) before the bypass channel can be built. As for a Plan B, this Alternative Plan proposed by Citizens Who Care way back in 2006 would have lacked the bypass channel, but it relied on raising the levees. Changes to the Panther Island plan have fortunately highlighted an area of North Main (and surrounding blocks) that can move forward without the bypass channel; development here should be encouraged ASAP.
