That federal money for the Panther Island project? We may get word as soon as today
It could be known as early as today where Panther Island, the $1.17 billion Trinity River project, falls in federal funding priorities, as the Trump administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are expected to release spending plans for this year and 2021.
The Army Corps’ annual Work Plan, which establishes the agency’s priorities, is traditionally released in the second week of February. The White House Office of Budget and Management is also expected to release the administration’s 2021 federal budget proposal today. Those budgets are the first indication of whether the project will receive federal money soon, said Mark Mazzanti, a former Army Corps of Engineers official hired last fall to coordinate the local effort for Panther Island.
In January, he told the Trinity River Vision Authority Board that Panther Island, also called the Central City Project, could qualify for a portion of about $170 million set aside for flood mitigation. Congress allocated that money to the Corps late last year, and the 2020 Work Plan should spell out which projects receive portions of the money.
The local Corps office, in conjunction with the Tarrant Regional Water District, requested $38 million for the Trinity River effort last year.
A spokesman for the Fort Worth district of the Corps said the agency wouldn’t speculate about whether the project would make it into the Work Plan. The last time Panther Island received money through the plan was in 2017, when $6 million was allocated.
Congress in 2016 authorized up to $526 million for Panther Island, but since 2006 the Corps has received a total of just under $62 million. Local partners have spent almost $328 million preparing the area for the Corps to dig a 1.5 mile long bypass channel between the two forks of the Trinity River north of downtown Fort Worth.
The Trump administration has been unwilling to budget federal funds, saying a cost-benefit analysis is needed, but local officials have lobbied for a change of heart.
In July, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price and U.S. Rep. Roger Williams met with Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director and chief of staff, to discuss the project. Price and Williams told the Star-Telegram they had renewed confidence the channel would again receive future funding.
The meeting was aimed at understanding how the project could move up in the Trump administration’s budget priorities. At the time Williams, whose district stretches from Austin to Burleson, said an amount of at least $250 million was discussed, though the White House wanted clear indications the focus would be on flood control and safety. Though the channel aims to mitigate a potential Trinity River flood, it also creates an 800-acre island and prime riverfront real estate near the heart of downtown.
Price was in D.C. in late January, but her office last week said federal officials hadn’t given any indication about funding. Williams did return a call or an email to his office.
The strongest supporter of the project has been U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, who lobbied for the original authorization. Her office referred questions regarding project funding to the Army Corps.
Though the request was for $38 million, Mazzanti said just $10 million would be enough to keep the project on track.
That’s the amount needed to continue designing the north portion of the bypass channel. That channel would run basically parallel to the Fort Worth and Western Railroad tracks, creating the larger of the two planned islands.
There are some things local partners need to do to prepare the Corps for that design.
Design for four pedestrian bridges, expected to cost about $5 million, should be at least 60% complete for the Corps to be able to consider them in the bypass channel design, Mazzanti said. The Tarrant Regional Water District is expected to approve a contract for that work this month. Some utility relocation and design work is also needed.
The deadlines to complete those designs begin early next year, Mazzanti said.
