Trinity River Project

The project aims to turn the river's path into a collection of sports fields, trails, nature centers, and recreational opportunities.

The Great Trinity River Project has since become one of the most impressive municipal efforts combining conservation, recreation and thoughtful development.

In 1998, then-mayor Ron Kirk championed a much more commercial project that aimed to renovate the river through Dallas.

Completed in 2012, it connects Woodall Rodgers Freeway in downtown to Singleton Avenue in west Dallas.

Current plans to improve the existing levees are part of what is known as the Dallas Floodway Extension project.

A second component of Dallas' efforts for increased flood protection involves the construction of a series of wetlands within the Trinity basin; these wetlands are being constructed to divert excess water away from the Trinity and absorb it outside the river channel, further reducing flood danger.

The Trinity Parkway, the most controversial portion of the project, was a proposed nine-mile (14 km) parkway located inside the river levees but above the floodplain; it was to provide an alternate route for Dallas residents and business travelers, and relieve intense Dallas highway traffic.

[7] The Trinity River Project incorporates several new recreational developments aimed at improving quality of life for downtown Dallas residents and visitors.

Currently there exists a broad section of developed land between the skyscrapers of downtown and the water's edge of the Trinity and the two lakes.

Recently, Dallas city hall has put forth new zoning laws concerning this area; this new legislation redefines the types of structures that can be built in this area and extends downtown's sphere of influence with its model of highrise and high density construction out to the Trinity river.

After the referendum controversy continued, citizens began to change their minds and the city council finally cancelled the road project in August 2017.

The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, the largest portion of the Trinity project started thus far, is currently complete and open to traffic connecting Spur 366 to Singleton Blvd.

The general contractor, American Bridge, expected steel components to arrive on site in Dallas during the fall of 2014.