After years of planning, design work and utility relocations, one of Fort Worth’s most closely watched infrastructure projects is moving into a new stage.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $169.4 million construction contract for the North Bypass Channel, a major component of the Central City flood-control project commonly associated with Panther Island.

Mobilization and early earthmoving are expected to begin in late winter or early spring 2027, with the channel currently targeted for completion in 2029.

For Fort Worth, this is important because the story is no longer only about plans, renderings and future development.

It is increasingly about large-scale construction that will reshape the Trinity River corridor near downtown.

What the North Bypass Channel will do

The channel will run roughly 3,900 feet and measure about 300 feet wide at the bottom.

Its central job is to divert floodwater around the downtown bend where the Clear Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River meet.

The work also includes a vegetated earthen levee, reinforced concrete floodwalls, pedestrian promenades, multi-use trail connections, accessible ramps and stairs, and a pedestrian bridge tied into the broader Trinity Trails network.

That combination helps explain why this project has always been about more than digging a channel.

Flood protection is the public-infrastructure purpose, but the finished system also changes how people may eventually move through and experience this part of the city.

Why this phase matters

The North Bypass Channel will work with other flood-control features including valley storage areas, isolation gates, dams and an interior pump station.

Together, those elements are designed to reduce flood risk for homes, businesses, roads and other critical infrastructure in and around Fort Worth’s Central City corridor.

Local partners have already completed property acquisition, environmental remediation and 14 utility-relocation packages along the channel alignment.

In other words, a substantial amount of the less-visible preparation has already happened beneath the larger public conversation about Panther Island.

Who is building it

The federal contract was awarded to Walsh Construction Company II LLC.

The Army Corps is delivering the federally authorized project in partnership with the Tarrant Regional Water District and in coordination with the City of Fort Worth.

Through fiscal year 2026, federal appropriations have supported design, engineering, real-estate work, project management, habitat mitigation and several other pieces of the larger system.

Local partners have invested more than $374 million to advance the project, while additional federal and local funding will still be needed to complete all authorized features.

What Fort Worth residents should watch

The next visible milestone will be construction mobilization and earthmoving in 2027.

Residents should also expect continued discussion about access, trails, surrounding development and how the broader Central City project connects downtown with areas north of the river.

The channel contract does not finish Panther Island, but it does move one of its most important pieces from preparation toward construction.

For a project Fort Worth has talked about for decades, that is a meaningful shift in the current.