Texas Highway 121 Extension (Southwest Parkway) - History
The extension of Highway 121 from north of downtown Fort Worth to the southwestern part of the city, and from there to Cleburn, has been a dream for over 30 years. It has languished at the Texas Department of Transportation, and now has the dubious honor of having been proposed longer than any other project there.
It originated as "another spoke in the wheel" of freeways for Fort Worth. That represented the level of Transportation Planning in Fort Worth 30 years ago. The proponents of the road have not progressed since then.
The reason that TxDOT has not done anything with it for 30 years, of course, is that it has never been needed. It is still not needed.
In fact, the estimate from the Tollway Authority is that only 3% of Fort Worth citizens will use the road. And it will not cause a noticeable drop in traffic on nearby streets.
That has not stopped the City of Fort Worth. It continues to push this mistake, even though the road would trash parkland and slice across greenspace with multiple river crossings. The latest Capital Improvement Bond proposal included $1/2 million for design work. Hardly a fitting project for a city that prides itself on the quality of life for its citizens.
Of Course, the local Member of Congress and ex-mayor of Fort Worth, Kay Granger is anxious to uphold the tradition of bringing federal dollars home... She won't turn a critical eye on this thing, especially sitting on the subcommittee responsible for highway building. (see this press release).
The Chamber of Commerce appears to have been duped into supporting the project despite the destruction of the Vickery business corridor. Perhaps they see a need for more strip shopping centers along new service roads.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has refused to expose the real reason for the road: Land Speculation.
Land Speculation? Didn't that go out with Range Wars and Indian Raids?
Of course not. Land Speculation is just buying land with the hope that it will become more valuable. Nothing really wrong with that, unless the land owners try to get public money spent to make their land more valuable.
Like, say, building a freeway across the land, or leading to it. A freeway not justified by traffic congestion.
Much of the land for the freeway between I-30 and I-20 will be donated by "large landowners."
For the good of Fort Worth? Or despite what's best for Fort Worth.
General Motors used to say, effectively, "What's good for GM is good for America."
Can we say "what's good for developers is good for Fort Worth"?
Not Always.
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