Rezoning Notice for County Land Annexed into the City of Fort Worth


Here is the official notice of rezoning for the county land being annexed into the City of Fort Worth.
Click on the image or link to view.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9w-tYu1b-N4bDFmWUhKNzIwRkd2RkU3b1dMZS1tUjJha1pv/view?usp=sharing

Lakeside / Fort Worth Boundary Settlement Document



Here is the settlement between Fort Worth and Lakeside. The documents include drawings and a description of which properties will go to what city.

Click the image to view the settlement document:


LOVE CIRCLE / CASINO BEACH WATER & SEWER UPDATE

Here are my questions and answers from Jay Chapa, the Fort Worth Assistant City Manager.

1) Q. What is the status of the contract? What is the remaining contract timeline?

A. We expect the construction contract to be placed on the October 25th city council agenda for consideration. Once the construction contract is approved and executed, a public meeting will be held to go over the detailed construction schedule. The total construction time in the contract is 730 calendar days.

2) Q. What is the estimated work timeline: (1) groundbreaking, (2) pipe installation, (3) grinder installation?

A. The detailed construction schedule will be reviewed with the contractor at a pre-construction meeting and then shared with the public at the public meeting.

3) Q. What are the costs to the residents?

A. The charges from the City to the residents include a tap and impact fee – many of which have already been paid by the residents. Residents will also be required to have private side work performed, to include hiring a private licensed plumber and electrician for the work to connect and power the new grinder pump, pump out and deactivate the septic tank in accordance with ordinances and regulatory requirements, and potentially install backflow prevention assuming a private side well is not permanently abandoned at the time of connection to the water system. Costs for these private side work activities will vary, depending on the lot configuration, landscaping, and individual preferences.

4) Q. What kind of notifications should we expect?

A. A public meeting will precede construction. At the public meeting, residents will be provided with a detailed listing of the requirements necessary to connect to the water and sewer lines, to include the necessary code inspections for the private side electrical and plumbing work. In addition, the Water Department will assign a staff member to both inspect construction and be a point of contact for residents during construction activities. Our field representative will also meet with customers to determine the exact location for the grinder pump to be installed. A notice will also be sent out when residents are able to make the connection to the public water and sewer.

5) Q. How is water and sewer going to be coordinated? Same or different times?

A. We plan on reviewing the detailed work schedule and work activity coordination to be submitted by the Contractor prior to the pre-construction conference. This schedule and work activity coordination will then be shared at the public meeting.

6) Q. What about the four homes by the pump station? Are they going to be connected at the time of Love Circle or when the Watercress work is to be done?

A. Connection of the four homes in the vicinity of the lift station to city sewer is not included in the Love Circle project. Connection of these houses to sewer in the future will be performed by a separate project.

Neighborhood Meeting - October 1, 2016 - Annual Reivew

Saturday (October 1st) at Noon, the Scenic Shores Neighborhood Association held its annual neighborhood association meeting. We reviewed the important issues that affect Lake Worth and our neighborhood.

Neighborhood issues we discussed:
Water and sewer installation schedules for the neighborhood
Love Circle Park reforestation and improvement planning
Bicycle trail installation update
Peninsula Club Circle and Sunset Park preservation strategies
Jacksboro Highway corridor redevelopment
Crime fighting efforts around the lake


For the Coordinated Security Proposal for the Lake Worth Area of Fort Worth click here

Who: Scenic Shores Neighborhood Association
When: Saturday, October 1st 12:00 (Noon)
Where: Front yard meeting
7504 Love Circle
Fort Worth, TX 76135

Neighborhood Association Meeting - Annual Review

Dear Neighbors:

This Saturday (October 1st) at Noon, the Scenic Shores Neighborhood Association will be holding its annual neighborhood association meeting. We will review the important issues that affect Lake Worth and our neighborhood.  This will be your opportunity for you to hear what's going on and to ask questions. 
 
Neighborhood issues we will discuss:
  • Water and sewer installation schedules for the neighborhood
  • Love Circle Park reforestation and improvement planning
  • Bicycle trail installation update
  • Peninsula Club Circle and Sunset Park preservation strategies
  • Jacksboro Highway corridor redevelopment
  • Crime fighting efforts around the lake
Who: Scenic Shores Neighborhood Association
When: Saturday, October 1st 12:00 (Noon)
Where: Front yard meeting 
            7504 Love Circle
            Fort Worth, TX 76135
 
(We will just be meeting in the front yard next to the street so bring a chair if you want to sit.)
 
Sincerely,

Michael Dallas
President
Scenic Shores Neighborhood Association
817-733-9056 

Horrifying Stats on Hwy 199's "Death Zone"



I just received the TXDOT stats on the Hwy 199 "death zone" for the last 60 months. The numbers are horrifying:

Fatal crashes: 4
Incapacitating crashes: 17
Injury and possible injury crashes: 106
Total crashes: 240

These are not "just numbers." They are horrific family tragedies. Let's get Hwy 199 rebuilt and put an end to this unnecessary pain.

IMPROVEMENTS PLANNED FOR TEXAS 199 ‘DEATH ZONE’ NEAR AZLE, LAKE WORTH

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/traffic/your-commute/article60742841.html#storylink=cpy

BY GORDON DICKSON
gdickson@star-telegram.com

LAKE WORTH - On a rainy day nearly four years ago, Azle resident Robert Spracklen was driving his pickup eastbound toward Lake Worth on Texas 199 when a westbound driver lost control of his vehicle and spun into Spracklen’s lane.

“He was already facing in reverse when he hit me. He jumped over that itty-bitty, two-inch-tall median and hit me broadside,” said Spracklen, 50, a maintenance manager for a large company who has been disabled since the March 10, 2012, crash. The collision on Texas 199, also known as Jacksboro Highway, left Spracklen with back and knee injuries that have required numerous surgeries.

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I DON’T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO GO THROUGH THIS. YOU’RE MAKING A NICE LIVING IN LIFE, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN ONE DAY YOU’RE NOT ABLE TO.
Robert Spracklen of Azle, disabled in crash on Texas 199
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Nonetheless, he was thrilled Tuesday to hear state officials discuss their plan to improve safety on 6 miles of the Texas 199 corridor, including construction of a taller median barrier to prevent head-on collisions in the same area where Spracklen was hurt.


“I don’t want anyone else to go through this,” he said. “You’re making a nice living in life, and all of a sudden one day you’re not able to.”

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$300 million - Estimated cost of improvements in the Texas 199 corridor through 2020
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The Texas Department of Transportation is committing to making a series of improvements to the area, which extends from Farm Road 1886 (also known as Confederate Park Road) near Azle south to Loop 820, where Lake Worth meets Sansom Park and Fort Worth, an official said.

During the spring, the agency will install concrete median barriers west of the Lake Worth bridge to prevent head-on crashes, said Brian Barth, the transportation department’s Fort Worth district engineer. He said that work, as well as possible improvements in the median areas east of the bridge, will be covered from the agency’s routine maintenance funds.

Barth said he didn’t have a specific cost for the short-term work but thought it would be minimal — mainly limited to the cost of concrete needed for the barriers — because the agency can use its maintenance staff to fix the medians rather than pay a private contractor for labor.
Long-term fixes

Then, thanks to new funding sources in Texas, Barth said, the long-awaited completion of freeway lanes from Farm Road 1886 to Loop 820 will likely be built beginning in 2017 or 2018. That project is expected to cost roughly $90 million.

And a full redesign and reconstruction of the Texas 199/Northwest Loop 820 interchange could be built as soon as 2020. That project could cost $210 million, depending upon redesign costs and other factors, officials said.

Those projects have been on the drawing board but delayed for years because of the state’s lack of highway revenue, Barth said.

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THIS AREA RIGHT HERE WE CALL THE ‘DEATH ZONE.’ IT HAS BEEN INFAMOUS FOR ACCIDENTS, FOR MANY DECADES.
Micheal Dallas, Scenic Shores Neighborhood Association president
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The new funds will come from a combination of sources, said state Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, who attended a press conference along Texas 199 on Tuesday to discuss the plans. Geren faces challenger and family friend Bo French in the March 1 Republican primary.

The sources include Proposition 1, which was approved by voters statewide in November 2014 and allows for a portion of revenue from oil and gas activities to go toward road work, as well as Proposition 7, approved by statewide voters a year later that allows for a portion of general sales tax and motor vehicle sales tax revenues to go to highways, Geren said.

And finally, some money likely will come from the Legislature ending its longstanding practice of diverting highway funds to other state programs. The ending of diversions is expected to bring in $1.3 billion. Earlier this month, officials announced that some of that money would be used to improve Texas 199 just south of Azle.

For residents who live a few miles south of Azle, in the Lake Worth area, the improvements can’t come soon enough.

“This area right here we call the ‘death zone,’ said Michael Dallas, president of the Scenic Shores Neighborhood Association, which represents many residential areas along the corridor. “It has been infamous for accidents for many decades.”

At least four serious accidents have occurred during the past two months, Dallas said.

He said that in addition to the dangers at the Lake Worth bridge, many accidents occur at the intersection of Texas 199 and Surfside Drive, less than a mile to the north.

Gordon Dickson: 817-390-7796, @gdickson

BIG NEWS! Jacksboro Highway (199) To Be Improved - 2016 "Death Zone" Press Conference

TXDOT and State Representative Charlie Geren committed to immediately mitigate the "death traps" around the Lake Worth bridge as well as to fund the $210 million raised highway from Surfside to Loop 820. You can watch the conference and the Q&A's:








Here is the Star Telegram article from the press conference on February 17, 2016

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/traffic/your-commute/

http://scenicshores.blogspot.com/2016/02/improvements-planned-for-texas-199.html

Jacksboro Highway (TX Hwy 199) at Lake Worth - Deadly Hazardous & Economic Bottleneck

Jacksboro Highway (TX Hwy 199) at Lake Worth is exacting a toll on the community with enormous hazards and economic bottlenecks. In the three videos below, Michael Dallas discusses the issues. The full report submitted to our leadership in Texas is found below.
Video: Part 1 - The Three Death Traps
Video: Part 2 - The Economic Bottlenecks
Video: Part 3 - Why the problems will get much worse 

----------------------------------------------
Click here for Google Docs version for printing.
REPORT:
Jacksboro Highway (TX Hwy 199)
at Lake Worth

Deadly Hazardous & Economic Bottleneck

January 28, 2016

Deadly hazards

jacksboroHwy_hazards.jpg
Three major “death” locations on Jacksboro Highway (TX Hwy 199).  1) A deadly westbound curve entering the bridge from the east, 2) a deadly eastbound curve entering the bridge from the west, and 3) a dangerous intersection long overdue for improvement.

Death Trap 1 - Ridiculous TXDOT lane design. 20160128_095502.jpg
The eastbound lake of 199 prior to entering the Lake Worth bridge contains three design failures which create injuries and death.  The TXDOT design failures of this area include sharp curves, poor tilt of the road, and a “deadhead” barrier unnecessarily jutting at oncoming traffic.

Death Trap 2 - Dangerous curve on west side of bridge with no barriers.  20160128_094946.jpg
Deaths, injuries, and close calls occur regularly on the westbound entry to the Lake Worth bridge where pposing traffic is separated by a 4” high slab of concrete.

Death Trap 3 - Dangerous intersection long overdue for improvement.
DeathTrap3.jpg
The intersection of Jacksboro Highway (TX Highway 199) and Surfside Drive represents the “worst of the worst” in intersection design.  Heavy traffic loads, high speeds, access roads on a non-raised highway, stop sign conflict with light, and enormous driver confusion make this intersection of the worst in Texas.  Drivers at this intersection continually risk sudden death from just waiting for the light to change.

Economic bottlenecks

Economic bottleneck 1 - Intersection at Surfside Drive and Highway 199
jacksboroHwy_economicHostage.jpg
Several community redevelopment efforts - both public and private - are being held “economic hostage” to the insufficient improvements at the intersection of Surfside and Jacksboro Highway (TX Hwy 199).  Redevelopment projects which would exponentially increase the traffic flow through this intersection cannot be pursued until the intersection is improved.

Surfside Drive - Casino Beach Revitalization hindered
CasinoBeach_finished.jpg
Commercial revitalization efforts at Casino Beach should be put on hold until the intersection at Surfside and Highway 199 can accommodate the increased traffic flow.  (This is an image of the now abandoned revitalization project by the Patterson Group.)


Surfside Drive - Private redevelopment hindered
jacksboroHwy_garbage_finished.jpg
The City of Fort Worth is in the process of annexing the (“ETJ”) along the Jacksboro Highway corridor as well as installing services of water and sewer.  High quality private development will require that the intersection of Surfside Drive and Jacksboro Highway (TX Hwy 199) be adequate to accommodate significantly increased traffic flows.  
Economic bottleneck 2 - Unfinished raised highway in the Town of Lake Worth
jacksboroHwy_Snarl_finished.jpg
jacksboroHwy_traffic_finished.jpg
The Town of Lake Worth currently snarls traffic both directions with numerous traffic lights over the two miles of Jacksboro Highway (TX Hwy 199) that runs through it.  These delays exact enormous economic costs in terms of driver time and fuel waste.

Problem is growing daily - Hwy 199 is the ONLY route

jacksboroHwy_mainArtery_finished.jpg
Jacksoboro Highway (TX Hwy 199) is heavily used and has become inadequate for current growth. Explosive growth is overwhelming the road.

  1. Counts in 2013 by TXDOT indicate over 70,000 cars flow through this stretch of TX Hwy 199 each day.
  2. There are only two routes from Fort Worth to the area west of Lake Worth and Eagle Mountain Lake - Silver Creek and Jacksboro Highway (199) with Jacksboro Highway carrying the vast majority of the load.
  3. Enormous development is proceeding in this area increasing traffic exponentially.

Action Needed - Immediate and Long-term

Immediate fixes - fix deadly issues NOW
20160128_094912.jpg

  1. Buildout the planned raised highway overpass and exit ramps at Surfside Drive (i.e. get rid of traffic light intersection).
  2. Install barriers between opposing traffic on the deadly curve on west side of the Lake Worth bridge.
  3. Mitigate the issues on the west-bound curve entering the Lake Worth bridge from the east side of the lake.  
  1. “Straighten” entry to the bridge and eliminate hazardous curve.
  2. Change configuration of traffic barrier so that it does not “deadhead” directly into traffic.

Long-term needs
jacksboroHwy_plan.jpg
Fund and finish existing raised highway plans from Loop 820 through the Town of Lake Worth and westward.