SUPPORT THE TRINITY: VOTE NO

Editorial

Dallas Morning News Sunday, October 14, 2007

The Trinity River Project always has been a three-headed creature – with transportation, recreation and flood control all rolled into one massive initiative.

As the debate about the toll road escalates, the park and the highway are getting plenty of airtime. Flood protection, though, is the necessary but nearly forgotten part of the project.

That's likely because engineers – not politicians – are calling the shots on flood control.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers isn't permitted to choose sides in the Nov. 6 referendum. And frankly, Corps officials aren't that interested in the campaign slogans or the sniping.

Theirs is a singular focus: Ensure that the project provides sufficient flood protection. That, the engineers say, is non-negotiable.

So, it's surprising and disappointing that opponents of the planned highway would suggest that the Corps is some sort of political pawn, kowtowing to pressure from the other side.

Dallas City Council member Angela Hunt and her allies portray toll-road backers as the neighborhood bully, twisting engineers' arms until they cry uncle and agree to allow a highway near the levees. Ms. Hunt's side has said that building a road within a floodway is unheard of. Apparently, sending a man to Mars via slingshot would be more feasible.

But Corps officials tell a much different story.

Building within a flood plain is not unusual, they told The Dallas Morning News. Engineers express confidence about this project and emphasize that flood protection will trump all during the final design process. What's more, the Corps won't approve any design that would increase the risk of flooding even an iota.

The tollway would be built to withstand a 100-year flood – an event so big it would be expected to happen once in a century (unlike, say, last spring's five-year flood). Corps officials wryly note that if a something as severe as a 100-year flood occurred, Dallas would have much bigger problems than worrying about whether this road were under water.

Still, opponents of the Trinity Parkway continue to beat this drum.

When leaders of the "Vote No! Save the Trinity!" campaign unveiled a video and drawings depicting the project, Ms. Hunt and company cried foul. Before the last note of the video's dramatic soundtrack sounded, they seized upon the trees lining the levees in the illustrations, arguing that the Corps would not allow such a thing.

Actually, it would – with certain restrictions.

Engineers explained that no decisions have been made but that in some cases, trees that don't damage the hydraulics of a project could be allowed. Ms. Hunt declared that the Corps was being strong-armed.

With so many moving parts in this $1 billion project, the Corps simply is focused on designing solutions. Ms. Hunt's camp is busy crafting conspiracy theories.

Flood Protection

The road would be built to withstand a 100-year flood - one that is likely to occur only once a century as shown in this cross-section near Reunion Boulevard.

Courtesy of the Dallas Morning News, Sunday, October 14th 2007 Edition
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