FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth city councilmembers could soon adopt a $31 million construction plan that aims to make the city's popular Stockyards district safer for pedestrians while also improving traffic flow in the area.
Earlier this month, a consultant presented an infrastructure study during a council work session that includes recommendations for 22 projects spanning 10 corridors and 17 intersections in the district.
Under the proposal, street parking along North Main Street would be mostly eliminated to create room for a center turn lane. Ellis Avenue would also be cut from two lanes to one lane in each direction to make room for a center turn lane.
The plan also identified dozens of street corners that should be reworked to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ramps would replace stairs at the intersection West Exchange and North Main, for example.
The study also recommends installing parking meters in the area. Analysts found that free, on-street parking is competitive and over-capacity compared to nearby pay-to-park lots. This proposal would even that playing field, while also dealing with drivers who, research indicates, have been ignoring time restrictions posted for on-street parking.
Sidewalks along North Main Street and Ellis Avenue would also eventually be widened to accommodate more pedestrian traffic under the plan.
Also included in the proposal? A bridge connection from I-35W to Decatur Avenue that would give interstate drivers more direct access to the Stockyards. But that's a bigger-picture suggestion not factored into the city's budget as currently aligned, and an element merely included in the conceptual proposal for broader planning purposes.
There are additional portions of the proposal that also have yet to be funded. If city leaders adopt the plan in the coming weeks, the hope is that those elements will serve as a guide for future Stockyard infrastructure investment.
Other elements of the proposal, however, could bear fruit sooner than later. Restriping and reconfiguring North Main Street, for instance, could be completed in about 18 months, analysts found.