Problems, blockages remain at Elm Fork of the Trinity River, despite TxDOT clearing log jam

A Texas Department of Transportation spokesperson told the Denton Record-Chronicle this month that work was complete.

“The TxDOT contractor only cleared the build-up of logs within 500 feet of the [U.S. Highway 380] bridge,” Nichols said. “TxDOT may have ‘completed its scope of work,’ but all who were involved in getting TxDOT engaged were disappointed the ‘scope of work’ was only for 500 feet from the bridge. The vast majority of the log jam remains with no channel cut for water flow.”

And it will fall mostly on unpaid advocates to alleviate that problem, Nichols said.

“We’re going to be looking for more volunteers,” she said. “We want to get the project finished. We hope we can get some grant funding and donations to make that happen.”

Dale Peterson owns land along the Trinity River near Aubrey. He said debris in the waterway contributes regularly to flooding.

“Once it rains, it takes weeks for the water to go down,” he said. “It used to drain practically overnight. With the river stopped up, it doesn’t flow from the Trinity to Lake Lewisville like it should.”

Peterson has lived there for four years.

“But the people who have lived here longer say the flooding has gotten much worse as the river continues to stop up more and more,” he said.

The U.S. 380 trailhead has been closed for five years.

“The log jam that remains continues to impede drainage from recreation areas such as Lake Ray Roberts park and trails, the Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center” in Denton, and the trailhead on U.S. 380, Nichols said. “This is a problem that still needs a resolution as the log jams are damaging the recreational areas.”

Mark Stewart, the superintendent for Ray Roberts Lake State Park, could not be reached on Wednesday.

But Richard Rogers, chairman of the Greenbelt Alliance, said the log jam at Elm Fork started five years ago.

“The park itself from U.S. 380 to FM428 has been closed for five years,” he said. “U.S. 380 is the major east-west connector from the tollway to Denton. It’s high-volume and used to be the closest access point that Denton had to the Greenbelt. It was a place where lots of people from Denton enjoyed access to the Greenbelt.”

The Greenbelt trail runs for about 12 miles alongside Elm Fork between Ray Roberts and Lewisville lakes. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Trinity River to create Lewisville Lake and the river basin upstream to create Ray Roberts. Both lakes were built for flood control and public water supply.

According to its website, the Greenbelt Alliance is the “legal and financial structure for the Lake Ray Roberts Equestrian Trail Association,” which focuses on equestrian trail improvements in the area.

Rogers said the log jams at Elm Fork must be cleared before the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department can reopen those trails.

“We have the [U.S. Army Corps of] Engineers involved,” Rogers said. “We have the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department involved. And we have this log jam coalition. The Greenbelt Alliance has 300 members. We include the Lake Ray Roberts Equestrian Trail Association, a significant part of the Greenbelt Alliance. We want to increase awareness of the trails. Our interest is getting them reopened. We want to work with government entities to figure out a plan to clean out the log jam.”

If that happens, volunteers may be able to maintain them, Rogers said.

“The size of it at this point has gotten so large that it is going to take government funding and private funding,” he said. “The TxDOT funding was good because it shows it can be done. As far as a solution, we’re going to need donors and public officials behind it. We need to finish the job that TxDOT started.”