At White Settlement Road bridge ribbon cutting, expectation that business will rebound
Seven weeks after it quietly opened to traffic, the White Settlement Road bridge near downtown Fort Worth was feted at a ceremony on Saturday.
After Mayor Betsy Price used a pair of scissors half the length of her body to cut a strip of yellow caution tape that was stretched across bridge’s lanes, a procession of antique vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians took off east toward a roundabout.
In remarks to a crowd, Price referred to delays in the bridge’s construction and the resulting flagging commerce nearby. Because of design problems, construction delays and COVID-19, it was completed in about 5 1/2 years, rather than the roughly two years first projected.
“You know, we’ve had our share of struggles with the bridge, but it’s all worth it and two more bridges to follow,” the mayor said.
The spans are needed to connect Panther Island to the rest of Fort Worth and must be finished before the Army Corps of Engineers can begin to dig a 1.5-mile bypass channel between the two forks of the Trinity River.
Of the three bridges constructed for the $1.17 billion Panther Island project, White Settlement is the only one without an obvious detour, and without vehicle traffic, business along White Settlement Road decreased.
Bridges for North Main and Henderson streets are projected to open in the coming months.
This story was originally published May 22, 2021 at 4:16 PM.
