Fort Worth, Texas, Traffic to Get a Lot Worse

By Scott Streater, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Nov. 22–FORT WORTH — The problem seems overwhelming.

Fort Worth will add roughly 300,000 new residents in the next 25 years, placing tens of thousands more cars and trucks on already-congested roadways. If that is not addressed, traffic on nearly half of the main freeways and roadways in Tarrant County will be at a standstill for most of the day, city leaders say.

All those idling vehicles stuck in traffic will have a significant effect on air quality. Collectively, those vehicles will spew tons of ozone-forming pollutants into a region already struggling with ozone, which at high concentrations can trigger asthma attacks and aggravate bronchitis, emphysema and other respiratory problems.

Fort Worth is spearheading a regional effort to tackle the problem, and over the next year city planners will work with leaders throughout Tarrant and adjoining counties to hammer out a plan to reduce projected traffic congestion for the sake of clean air.

“There is no decent quality of life if we can’t breathe the air,” said Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief. “There is no decent quality of life if our citizens can’t get to work on time, or can’t get their children to school. I think we have to use this process to look at the tools that we have now, look at the tools that we need to add to our tool kit, and look at how we go about getting and using those tools before we see a total gridlock.”

City leaders outlined what they called a regional mobility and air quality plan during a meeting Monday with the Star-Telegram’s editorial board. The Star-Telegram and Dallas Morning News editorial boards issued a challenge to North Texas leaders in July 2003 to step up and address transportation and clean-air problems.

The city’s efforts illustrate how traffic congestion and bad air, at least in Dallas-Fort Worth, go together.

About half the ozone-forming pollutants in the region originate from automobile tailpipes; half the rest comes from off-road vehicles, such as bulldozers and backhoes, environmental regulators say.

A car or truck pollutes most during startup and acceleration, such as in stop-and-go traffic.

During Monday’s meeting, Paul Geisel, chairman of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority’s board of directors, presented a map showing that by 2030 nearly half the freeways and adjoining arteries in Tarrant County, and portions of Parker, Denton and Dallas counties, are projected to be severely congested for most of the day.

Geisel said that if motorists could somehow be persuaded to eliminate one trip per day — perhaps by using mass transit or carpools — the projected congestion would be cut nearly in half.

The city’s plan will focus on expanding public transportation, synchronizing traffic signals and offering incentives for individuals and businesses to carpool. City leaders also will develop options to find the money to pay for the plan’s recommendations.

Officials want to complete the plan late next year and have it in place in early 2007, said Assistant City Manager Marc Ott.

The plan comes as the region gropes to meet federal ozone standards by 2010. The nine-county region, including Tarrant, does not meet the standards and faces severe federal sanctions, including the possible loss of hundreds of millions in annual highway transportation dollars, if it cannot.

Getting more cars off the road will be a key to reducing air pollution and congestion.

“What we need to do as a community is embrace other modes of transportation,” said Robert Goode, director of the city’s Transportation and Public Works Department. “We can’t just build more roadways.”

But expanding public transportation will cost many millions of dollars.

“The elephant in the room is: How do we pay for it?” said Fort Worth City Manager Charles Boswell.

It won’t be possible without help from the state, Boswell said. That could include an increase in the region’s sales tax, he said.

—–

To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.