DALLAS — A multi-million dollar project on the Trinity River is raising serious concern from critics who allege the only thing it’s sending down river is money.
“It's a big mess, and it's with taxpayer dollars,” said Charles Allen, a river guide.
In March, the city unveiled its new white water course on the Trinity River near downtown. Almost immediately after opening, paddlers began worrying the Dallas Wave was too dangerous.
The City of Dallas spent $4 million using concrete barriers to turn the normally calm waters into Class III white-water rapids.
However, the rapids are far more powerful than expected, especially on a safety bypass built to the side. Its waters should be calm enough for even a canoe to pass, however, paddlers say if anything, it’s more dangerous.
“It was very vicious,” said kayaker Teresa Patterson.
She and a friend decided to try out the park soon after it opened earlier this year. She kayaks at least once a week but still decided to go down the safety bypass. Immediately, the rapids flipped her kayak and she got caught in the churning waters.
“I’m wearing a life vest and I have an extra one in the boat and I’m holding it,” she said. “It still jerked me under the water.”
The rapids kept sucking her under. Her friend tried to help but couldn’t paddle through the powerful current. After fighting for 10 minutes, the waters eventually spit her out.
“I was getting really, really tired,” Patterson said. “I think if I had to be there another minute, I might not have been able to fight to the surface, even with the life preserver.”
Soon after, the city quietly closed the park and posted warning signs upriver.
Now, after spending $4 million on the park, officials admit another $121,000 is needed to fix the channel.
“I hate to see us throw more good money after that, but we can’t leave a mess there," said Dallas council member Angela Hunt. "That’s not an option.”
From the beginning, the Dallas Wave has been saddled with delays and cost overruns. The thought that it was apparently built incorrectly only further angers council members.
“I don’t think it was the best use of city money for the Trinity,” said Dallas council member Ann Margolin, calling it “a lot of razzle-dazzle.”
Hunt prefers the money be spent on “more impactful” projects, like hiking trails.
“It adds to the public perception the Trinity Project is not on track,” she said.
The Dallas Wave was the city’s first major attraction inside the banks of the Trinity, and is ahead of much bigger plans stalled by federal flood control concerns.
City officials refused on-camera interviews, only issuing statements.
“A solution has been proposed and costed,” wrote Willis Winters, the city’s assistant Parks director. “We feel it is a necessary precaution to attain the City’s highest priority of safety on the Trinity River.”
John Reynolds, the Wave’s project manager, wrote in an e-mail to News 8 that the city would like to hire an outside engineer to build a model of the park to ensure any repairs will work.
“The proposed solution is to modify the bottom of the lower by-pass channel to reduce the volume of water,” Reynolds wrote, “and reduce the slope gradient in the channel, thus creating a smoother flow.”
Repairs are at least a year away and will still require council approval.
“It’s just been a big mess,” said river guide Charles Allen. “It’s had a really negative impact on my business. I’ve lost a lot of money.”
Allen has been offering tours of the Trinity River and renting boats for more than 20 years. With the park closed, it’s essentially cut off a big part of the Trinity to him.
“When they’re closing recreation centers and libraries and laying off city employees, we really can’t afford to be wasting millions of dollars that way,” he said. “They should have just left it alone.”
The closure comes at a time when the state is trying to encourage more people to enjoy North Texas rivers.
In May, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department designated a 10-mile stretch of the Trinity a state paddling trail. However, the Dallas Wave sits right in the middle of the trail. The state now encourages boaters to get out of the water and haul their boats around the rapids.
“I think it’s a boondoggle,” said canoeist Eric Neilsen. “As far as I know, it’s the only one I know that was closed to the public when it opened.”
Instead of attracting people to the Trinity, the park instead is keeping them away, he said.
“We have an unfinished project that may or may not ever get finished," Neilsen said.
E-mail jbetz@wfaa.com
