U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials at Benbrook Lake announced plans to suspend the closure of day-use pedestrian and cycling traffic between North Holiday Park to South Holiday Campgrounds, originally slated to close Jan. 1, 2024.
The intended closure was needed because of the substantial increase in campground visitation and cyclist traffic, which had resulted in an increase in user group conflicts, and presented potential safety hazards, within the campground area.
“We have paused the projected closure between North and South Holiday Parks at Benbrook Lake due to the overwhelming positive responses and self-regulating support we received from the cycling community,” said Stefan Flores, lake manager at Benbrook. “Our main concern has always been to address and deconflict behaviors that we felt compromised the safety of the campers, as well as the cyclist community, that traveled through South Holiday Park.”
A working committee – made up of Army Corps of Engineers Operations staff, along with officials from Tarrant County, the cities of Fort Worth and Benbrook, key staff from congressional officials, former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, a representative from Streams and Valleys, and leadership from local bike and community groups – met five times to work on potential solutions. The eventual long-range goal is to pave a wider road through both parks, with protected bike and walking paths.
“This issue galvanized the bike community like never before,” said Betsy Price, former Fort Worth mayor. “I’m proud of the collaboration efforts between the Corps of Engineers, local leaders, the cycling and community members, that hopefully will protect this community gem for future generations.”
As the lake staff and community members work towards long-term goals, it’s important for the community to know that there will be increasing signage throughout the park, to include pavement markings, where cyclists are allowed to travel and areas that are off-limits to large cycling groups, especially the areas in, and, around the south campground.
For additional information, please reach out to the Benbrook Lake Office at (817) 292-2400.