Fort Worth’s Panther Island gets an additional $20 million to design channel gates
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is allocating an additional $20 million to the flood control portion of Fort Worth’s Panther Island.
The money is in addition to the $403 million approved in 2022 to build a 1.5-mile bypass channel on the Trinity River north of downtown that would create a 338-acre island and San Antonio style river walk.
The money will be used to start design on the three gates and pump station to control water through the channel.
Design on the north portion of the channel is underway, but the corps is vetting contractors to design the south portion, said spokesperson Clay Church.
“The investment of federal funds in this vital project is exactly why I supported the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will bring about $20 billion to North Texas,” said U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey in a statement Wednesday.
Construction on the north portion of the bypass channel is targeted to begin in late 2024 with the southern portion to start in 2025, Church said.
He cautioned that the time frames were estimates and are dependent on when the corps finished designing the channel and awards a contract for construction.
This story was originally published March 15, 2023 at 4:14 PM.
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