The City of Fort Worth has set wheels in motion to prepare for massive rainfall and flooding events with $280 million worth of flood mitigation projects on the horizon.
The early October floods in North Texas are only the latest in decades of steadily worsening inclement weather brought about by climate change. The city experienced its first 1-in-1,000-year rain event of the millennium in August 2022 as roughly 10 inches of record rainfall was dumped over a 24-hour period. As the risk of even more disastrous weather events escalates, city leaders are developing contingencies to ensure the city has the flood management and drainage infrastructure needed to mitigate billions of dollars in damages and keep residents safe.
The $110 million Linwood and West Seventh Street flood mitigation plan is currently in the development stage. The city anticipates concluding the design phase in 2028 and breaking ground in 2029. The holistic project will be a multi-phase effort broken up across two distinct improvement periods.
Phase 1 of the project will prioritize the construction of a large drainage pipe beneath University Road, stretching from the Trinity River to West Seventh Street. Project components will include the installation of roughly 6,000 feet of storm drain main, 1,800 feet of connecting drainage pipes and 40 inlets. The city will need to relocate existing water and sewer infrastructure to make enough room for the enhancements.
Phase 2 will complete the rest of the work as the city installs a large drainage pipe between the intersection of Morton and Norwood streets to the Clear Fork Trinity River. The project will install approximately 4,400 feet of storm drain main line. Like Phase 1, the city will relocate existing water and sewer infrastructure as needed.
Fort Worth is in the design phase for a separate $90 million project to mitigate flooding along the Lebow Channel area. Construction is expected to begin in early 2028. The city received a $90 million state grant from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) in January to advance project design and development.
The project will address significant flood risks to nearby communities by expanding the drainage and detention capacity of the existing, undersized, 75-year-old channel. This includes building a 20-acre detention basin, widening and rehabilitating around 1.5 acres of existing channel, increasing its overall capacity and mitigating erosion. In addition, the city will upgrade nine bridges, reconstruct eight culverts, build 16 headwalls, restore the stream, install access ramps at multiple crossings and utilize multi-use greenspace and vegetation as part of the detention pond design.
The final $80 million will support flood mitigation efforts along Berry Street and McCart Avenue. Planned to be implemented in phases, construction is slated to begin in 2029. The project will prioritize efforts to reduce flood depth by 2.8 feet and protect roughly 40 structures from flood risk. While concrete details remain scarce, the city will provide program updates in November.
Photo by Vishnu Vardhan Akula from Pexels
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