While City Holds Our Trinity Docs Hostage, a Look at How Much Dallas Wants From Feds

Earlier this month, city officials — among them For-Now Mayor Dwaine Caraway, City Manager Mary Suhm, about-to-be-out Trinity River Corridor Project Committee chair Dave Neumann and others — schlepped to D.C. to beg for more money for the Trinity River Corridor Project. Specifically, the city wants federal earmarks for three components: the Dallas Floodway Study, the Dallas Floodway Extension and S.M. Wright Freeway. How much does Dallas need? Close to $100 million total, as you’ll see in the nice pamphlet prepared for the visit, which follows.

Who knows how long it’ll take before we get our hands on those Trinity Project expenditures the Texas Attorney General said we could have till the city filed suit to stop their release. We’re workin’ on it. But there is this from the wish list’s intro:

Since 1998, the citizens of Dallas have approved
over $500 million in local funding for the Trinity
River Corridor Project. The Trinity Project has
been a partnership effort between the City, the
County, the State and the Federal government,
and there is an expectation that each partner
agency will bring the necessary resources to the
table to complete the Project. To date, the Project
has received over $212 million in federal funds.
This is a result of the unwavering support of the
Dallas area Congressional delegation. However,
as some components of the Project are not considered
“budgetable” by federal bureaucratic standards,
the Project has had to rely on Congressional
earmarks for much of the secured funding to date.

Johnson, of course, is all about the Trinity project. After Caraway, Suhm and and the gang paid her a visit, she issued this statement:

“It was great to see so many friends and partners in my office today to talk about the City of Dallas and the great projects they are working on. The Trinity River Corridor Project is one of my highest priorities in Congress and I’m grateful for City Officials who are also dedicated to completing the project.”

She could always just give it a scholarship.

Dallas Trinity Earmark Wishlist