Fort Worth's River Before the Digging Starts: What's New, Detoured, and Coming on the Trinity Trails

This fall, the changes along the Trinity Trails near downtown Fort Worth are happening at the edges. Trinity Park has a new plaza by the Phyllis Tilley Memorial Pedestrian Bridge. On the east side, near Riverside Drive, crews have spent the fall building a kayak launch and rebuilding a section of floodway. The middle of the corridor at Panther Island looks much the same as it did in the spring. It is also the part of the river with a signed construction contract, a canal contract due before the year ends, and heavy equipment scheduled for early 2027.

So the stretch most people think of as the river's future is the one that will be hardest to use soon. The new parts at either end are the ones to get to know now.

Trinity Park Got Its New Corner First

The city announced on July 13 that Streams & Valleys Plaza is open in Trinity Park. It sits on what the city called an underused patch near the southwest side of the Phyllis Tilley Memorial Pedestrian Bridge. The plaza adds expanded trail access, a harvest table for group gatherings, seating, a drinking fountain, native landscaping, pollinator gardens and more than 60 newly planted shade and ornamental trees.

Those trees went in this year, so the shade from them is still small. What's useful right now is the water fountain and the harvest table at a pedestrian bridge crossing that already gets plenty of foot traffic. Ground broke on November 14, 2025, with support from donors including The Ryan Foundation, Gail Rawl and Emily Hudson. Lauren Deen, executive director of Streams & Valleys, put the plaza in the park's longer history in the city's announcement:

"Trinity Park holds a special place in Fort Worth's story, and projects like this one remind us that public-private partnerships have been shaping this park and this city for more than a century."

Upstream on the Clear Fork, volunteers spent workdays this spring restoring an 18-acre hilltop prairie at Oakmont Park, which overlooks the river, according to the City of Fort Worth. That project is habitat work rather than a new trail. Still, it shows that this year's new public space along the river came in at the edges, where nothing else stands in the way.

Near Riverside, a New Launch and a Detour

The east side of the corridor has the season's other two projects, and both affect trail users more directly.

The first is a new kayak launch. In an August 10 notice, the Tarrant Regional Water District said it had begun building a kayak launch at Riverside Park near Oakhurst Scenic Drive. The district warned Trinity Trails users about a short signed detour and estimated the work at about a month. The district has not published an opening date, and the City of Fort Worth's own Riverside Park project page still describes the work as in final design. Paddlers should check with TRWD or look for posted signs before carrying a boat down.

The second will matter to more people. Starting August 10, contractors began work on a section of the Fort Worth Floodway at the Riverside Drive Bridge, just east of I-35W. TRWD estimated the job at 80 to 120 days, depending on weather, with a temporary trail closure and detour while crews work. Counted from August 10, that range ends between October 29 and December 8. Unless TRWD announces the trail has reopened, a regular loop through that stretch should allow for the detour through Thanksgiving and possibly into the first week of December. The district asks trail users to follow the posted signs and stay out of the work site.

Both projects are short closures that leave something useful behind once they're done. The work coming to the middle of the river runs on a much longer timeline.

The Middle Is Next

On September 24, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Fort Worth District awarded a $169,431,703 contract to Walsh Construction Company II to build the North Bypass Channel. The channel is a central piece of the Central City project around Panther Island. It will be about 3,900 feet long and 300 feet wide at the bottom, carrying water around the downtown bend where the Clear Fork and West Fork meet.

For someone on a bike or on foot, the most interesting part is the list of features designed into the channel:

• Pedestrian promenades
• Multi-use trail connections
• Accessible ramps and stair landings
• A pedestrian bridge linking the north levee to the promenade network and the Trinity Trails system

TRWD says crews should mobilize and start earthmoving in late winter or early spring 2027, and the channel should be finished in 2029. No digging on the channel is scheduled this fall, which makes this fall the last one before it begins.

The road crossings are already done. TRWD lists the three V-pier bridges on White Settlement Road, Henderson Street and North Main Street as complete. They have been carrying traffic over dry ground that the channel will eventually run under.

The canals follow close behind. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported on September 27 that a contract for the Panther Island canals will be awarded in late 2026, with construction expected to start around December 2026 or January 2027, according to water district spokesperson Matt Oliver. You can already see what the canals are meant to look like at the Encore Panther Island apartments, 447 N. Main St. The Star-Telegram describes a Venice-style canal winding through a courtyard there, built as a test case starting in 2018. It is a private courtyard, separate from the district-wide canal system still to be built.

The rules for what goes up around the water are being drafted at the same time. In June, the Fort Worth Report covered a draft update to Panther Island's development code. The draft would raise required open space from 9% to 15%, put walking and cycling first, and require waterfront transition zones open to the public. These are proposals on paper, but they show where the trail network is meant to grow once the work is finished.

Two Calendars Running Side by Side

From now through early 2027, the river has an event calendar and a construction calendar running at once. Here they are together:

The two Panther Island Pavilion dates are the last big gatherings on the island before the canal work begins. The Breakthrough T1D Walk is on the venue's calendar for Saturday, November 14. Four weeks later, on Saturday, December 12, the Dial Up Festival brings Nelly, Sugar Ray, Smash Mouth, Buckcherry, Paul Wall, Unwritten Law and other acts to the pavilion. The promoter notes that set times and logistics have not been announced and the lineup could change.

Nearby, Coyote Drive-In at 223 NE 4th St. hosted the after-party for TRWD's Trinity River Trash Bash in September. It's a reminder that the strip along the north bank already has places to go once you're off the trail. Streams & Valleys, the group behind the new Trinity Park plaza, holds a Fly Fishing Film Fest on November 6 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Conundrum Farms, 5544 Rocky Creek Park Road in Crowley. It's away from the river, and proceeds benefit Streams & Valleys and Fish for Change.

Planning Your Winter Routes

For the next few months, getting the most out of the river comes down to timing. Trinity Park's new plaza is open now, and the trees planted this year will shade more each season. The Riverside launch and the Riverside Drive Bridge detour are both projects measured in weeks, so check TRWD's notices and the posted signs before planning a paddle or a long loop on the east side. In the central stretch, the canal contract is expected by year's end, canal construction around December or January, and bypass channel work from early 2027 through 2029. Its promenades and new pedestrian bridge will eventually connect into the same Trinity Trails people use today.

If you're thinking about how Fort Worth's riverfront might change your own plans over the next few years, from the trail you walk every morning to the neighborhood you're considering next, The Ultimate Real Estate Group would be glad to talk it through with you. Sherri Murphy-Bort follows these projects closely and can help you understand what the river's timeline means for you. Let's Connect.