What’s up with those new bollards blocking traffic in the Fort Worth Stockyards?
A series of metal posts blocking access to part of the Fort Worth Stockyards have inspired questions, comments, and even one rap song.
The new retractable bollards blocking East Exchange Avenue at the intersection with North Main Street were recently added to protect pedestrian traffic during the World Cup.
The bollards will block East Exchange Avenue between 11 a.m. and 3 a.m. until July 20th, according to the city.
Some residents on a north side neighborhood Facebook group celebrated the change arguing it will improve safety along the largely tourist corridor.
Others argued the bollards are an attack on the north side’s low-rider and cruising culture with a YouTube user posting a rap video expressing opposition to the changes.
“They checking decibels. They talking on our pride. Putting metal barriers where cowboys used to ride,” the song said.
The Fort Worth City Council unanimously approved spending $860,000 on these and other Stockyards traffic safety improvements at its Feb. 24 meeting.
While the barriers will be permanent, the schedule of when they block Exchange Avenue will change after the World Cup, said Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Flores.
Flores’s district includes the north side and the Stockyards.
They bollards will probably be raised for the twice daily cattle drive, but other uses will be determined by events and the different stakeholder groups in the Stockyards, Flores said.
He noted the bollards were not put in place specifically for the World Cup, but were part of a years-long process to improve traffic safety in the Stockyards.
Eventually there will be bollards blocking off sections of West Exchange Avenue, but that won’t happen until after the Fort Worth water department completes a scheduled water and sewer replacement project.
We live in a time when people are using vehicles as weapons especially at high profile events, Flores said, adding that the city is intent on making sure Fort Worth doesn’t join that list.
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