While the Fort Worth Stockyards were once filled with cattle, it seems that people—5 million to be precise—are causing the need for major transportation improvements in the historic Fort Worth area.

In a nutshell

Fort Worth City Council received a briefing at their Oct. 10 meeting from Raj Gupta, transportation and public works city traffic engineer, and Jeff Whitacre, Kimley-Horn vice president, who worked with Gupta on the study. Whitacre said that the Stockyards have seen tremendous growth in the past few years, with 5 million visitors having visited the Stockyards since 2017.

Quote of note

“With success comes challenges,” Whitacre said. “One of those challenges is transportation and parking.”


The context

Whitacre said that they looked at the challenges in the Stockyards using a comprehensive transportation assessment. The assessment included an analysis of the following items:
  • Traffic
  • Multimodal
  • Safety
  • Accessibility
  • Circulation
The details

The study identified 22 projects spread across 10 corridors and included 17 intersections. Some of the highlighted projects included:
  • Retrofitting North Main Street
  • Retrofitting West Exchange Avenue
  • Making Exchange Avenue a one-way street
  • Connecting the Stockyards to I-35W
  • Implementing a circulator bus or trolley in the historic district
  • Improving pedestrian safety at crossings
Whitacre said that the assessment also included recommendations based on short-, mid- and long-term timeframes, and the budget for each group was as follows:
  • Short-term projects: $2.09 million
  • Mid-term projects: $12.83 million
  • Long-term projects: $16.23 million
The Oct. 10 presentation was for informational purposes only. No action was taken, and council will vote on the proposed recommendations at a future council meeting.