By Rick Waters
The TCU Magazine

Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. looks east down West Berry Street and smiles now.

It’s difficult to settle on just one adjective to describe the corridor’s transformation from when he arrived in Fort Worth 10 years ago this month.

“Clean. Green. Accessible. Vibrant. It’s all of those,” he said after the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of Phase 2 of the thoroughfare’s redevelopment. “What’s been good for TCU has been good for Berry Street. Our students love this area and now they’re going to enjoy it even more.”

The Chancellor joined Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, City Councilman Joel Burns and Berry Street Initiative’s Sandra Dennehy in thanking one another, area neighborhoods and local businesses in the partnership that made the so-called University/Berry Urban Village a reality.

The $3.4 million project is funded by a sustainable development grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments, a 2004 city bond program and matching funds from TCU.

Construction crews put the finishing touches on the wider south side sidewalk and landscaped median in early June, leaving east-west traffic to flow smoothly over the new bricked intersections from Forest Park Boulevard to University Drive.

Other enhancements include 39 new trees, dozens of black wrought-iron lamps, street furniture and waste receptacles, and red and beige paver stones to designate crosswalks. The project reduced the street’s crossing distance by 20 feet.

Pedestrian lighting was installed to make the street brighter at night, and on-street parking and ADA-compliant ramps for disabled pedestrians should create a more navigable roadway.

“Berry Street’s reemergence is a product of partnership,” said Mayor Price. “Working together, we have made neighborhoods and businesses along this street safer and more engaging. It is incredible to watch it work and watch it grow. We really have the whole package here.”

Council member Burns added: “What was once thought dirty and past its prime is now being seen as beautiful, accessible and reflective of the culture and heritage for this part of the city. It’s a jewel for Fort Worth.”

Phase 2 of the project, nearest to the University, converted six lanes with a turn lane into four lanes and medians and connected to previous enhancements from Waits Avenue to Forest Park Boulevard.

Motorists driving east now are unable to make left turns from Berry Street onto Cockrell, Greene, Waits, Lubbock and Merida avenues.

Phase 2 is done, but the revitalization will continue, said Arty Wheaton-Rodriguez, senior planner for the City of Fort Worth. Future phases will carry the enhancements further east on Berry to Cleburne Road, site of a future light rail station and eventually to the Berry/Interstate 35W intersection.

“The goal all along has been to create spaces that were pedestrian friendly and still efficient for traffic, but it’s more than that,” said Dennehy. “It has a consistent look now, something that everybody here can be proud of – TCU students, residents, business owners. This was only half the job. Now, we have to take care of it together.”


TCU Physical Plant staff will help maintain the landscaping in the median