Tarrant Regional Water District buys land needed for Panther Island channel
The Tarrant Regional Water District board voted unanimously Tuesday to spend $3 million for a half acre of land needed to build the bypass channel that would connect the Clear and West Forks of the Trinity River.
The land was appraised at $559,840 by the Tarrant Appraisal District. The price of $3 million came from the market value of the property, the district’s real property director, Steve Christian, told the board. The land is owned by Go Investments LLC of Burleson.
Marquita Moore, who runs Pressed Massage Therapy at the site, expressed trepidation during the public comment section about the effect of the purchase on her business. She asked the board for clarification about what help both her and Forged Fitness gym owner Zia Ali would be provided once the water district acquired the land.
Christian said the board would provide transition assistance for Moore and Ali, although he wasn’t able to give specifics about what would be provided.
Ali said he has set up a meeting with the water district on Friday to go over what kind of help the district would provide. The decision gives him more piece of mind knowing there will be a conversation and road map for his next steps instead of being kept in the dark, Ali said in a text.
The purchased land stretches from 309-321 Greenleaf St. It is just north of the West 7th district and near the White Settlement Bridge.
The channel being built is part of the larger Central City Flood Control Project. The 1.5-mile bypass channel would connect the Clear and West Forks of the Trinity River and create an 800-acre island north of downtown.
The southern half of the channel would run under the recently completed White Settlement and Henderson Street bridges.
The Texas Department of Transportation began constructing the three bridges over dry land in 2015. They were expected to be completed in 2018, but construction delays and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the completion until 2021.
Construction of the channel has also been delayed after funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is taking a lead role in building the channel, allocated only $7.5 million to for the project in the past five years.
Congress allocated $526 million for the project in 2016 though disagreements with the Trump administration over the project’s feasibility held up funding.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 2:22 PM.
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