Fort Worth ran out of concrete in April. Now a bridge in this park is sinking.
The city of Fort Worth is out of concrete — at least when it comes to the parks department.
The citywide concrete contract expired in April, and parks projects have been held up ever since.
Residents in the Heritage neighborhood in far north Fort Worth posted photos to a private Facebook group in early September showing delayed work in Ninnie Baird Park.
The city set up wooden framing and rebar to repair a waterway flowing from the park’s pond in July, but that prep work was covered up by mud brought by rainstorms in early September, according to one post.
Several residents also posted photos of a bridge over the waterway that appears to be sinking. Photos show a roughly 2 inch gap between the wooden bridge and concrete path.
They expressed fears children could get hurt if the bridge wasn’t fixed soon.
“Is the city just gonna wait for some kid riding a bike after school, now that the weather is nice, somersaulting over it in order to take action,” a resident posted in the private Facebook group.
The resident said he reported the damage on the city’s MyFW app two weeks ago, but nothing has been done.
Residents were told the contract lapsed, that a new one is in legal review and that the work would be completed by the end of September, said Jennifer Samuels, vice president of the Heritage Life Homeowners Association.
“But my experience with the city, if it’s in legal review I don’t believe the work will be done by the end of September,” she said.
The contract lapsed due to a “breakdown in the previous process, which has now been addressed to prevent similar issues moving forward,” a city spokesperson said in an email to the Star-Telegram.
It’s impacted five small construction projects, and 38 maintenance work orders, a parks department spokesperson said in a text message to the Star-Telegram.
It’s embarrassing that the 12th largest city in the country can’t handle these small repairs, said city council member Charlies Lauersdorf, whose district includes Ninnie Baird Park.
Lauersdorf promised to put pressure on city staff to get the repairs addressed quickly, and encouraged residents to keep bringing issues like this to his attention.
“We can do better, and our residents deserve better,” he said.
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