As sprawl nears once isolated Texas Motor Speedway, GM wonders ‘where my tax money is’
When Texas Motor Speedway opened in 1997, there wasn’t much headed in far North Fort Worth between the track and Interstate 820.
Eddie Gossage, the president and general manger of TMS since the beginning, is happy to see the development, which includes multiple hotels, an outlet mall and a string of restaurants at the intersection of Texas 114 and I-35.
But he’s not happy about a lack of infrastructure he says is badly needed in the area around the racing complex.
“Our local, state and federal officials have collected our tax money and spent it somewhere else apparently because they’re not building us roads,” Gossage said during the TMS media day ahead of a set of three NASCAR races March 27-29. “We desperately need roads improved yesterday.”
The track, which sits at the farthest edge of the city but in Denton County, has seen urban sprawl creep up from the south with housing developments, including apartment complexes, sprouting on either side of I-35.
“It’s just inappropriate for the elected officials and the bureaucrats to have that kind of development without building the proper infrastructure to support it,” Gossage said. “I call on all of them to get out here today to start building those roads because it doesn’t matter if you’re a business or a resident, there’s too little concrete out here to get where you need to get going.”
Gossage is not alone in feeling frustrated with the lack of roads in far north Fort Worth.
Fort Worth City Councilman Dennis Shingleton, who represents the fast-growing area near the Texas Motor Speedway, has repeatedly voiced annoyance with how quickly the area expanded, calling urban sprawl “a pain in the ass.”
“But right now, I’m at the point where, if it were up to me and me alone, I’d probably call a hiatus to any development up there,” Shingleton told the Star-Telegram earlier this year.
Residents in the northern suburbs say the city has done little to improve roads while welcoming more and denser housing developments. In January, vocal opponents of a housing development at Bonds Ranch and Willow Springs roads convinced the city council to deny a zoning change, citing concerns about the narrow roads. City planning staff and the zoning commission had approved the project, noting it fit with the city’s long-term plan.
Fort Worth has 24 street projects either under construction or in planning that are designed to improve commutes north of the loop. They total more than $186 million and will run through September 2023, according to city data. Most are funded through the 2018 bond election, and more projects may be coming if voters approve another bond package in 2022.
Gossage’s biggest beef is I-35 only being four lanes. An express lane has helped ease traffic congestion miles south of TMS from Heritage Trace Parkway to downtown, but not much has changed from Denton to TMS. For meetings in downtown, “I don’t know if it’s going to be 20 minutes or an hour and 20 minutes,” he said.
“It’s a shame to have a four-lane interstate out here with all of these improvements still,” he said. “The tax collection is going up, up, up for the city, county and state, but they’re not spending it here. I want to know where my tax money is.”
Gossage told a story of talking with a representative of the state comptrollers office asking why he never sees any construction crews widening 35 near the track. He got a blank stare, he said.
“I’ve lived on this corner for 25 years now. There was a time when you had to go down to 820 to get a sandwich or a haircut,” said Gossage, who joked that this was his soap-box issue. “Now, it’s here but unfortunately high-density housing is being built here and that puts lots and lots of cars on the road.”
