In the fall of 2007, when Dallas residents voted down a
referendum that would have killed a proposed toll road built
into one of the levees along the Trinity River, the future
looked bright. This toll road, our city’s leaders assured us,
would solve downtown Dallas’ traffic problems while
simultaneously providing much-needed funds to complete the
massive Trinity River Corridor Project. One of the most
ambitious public undertakings in this country’s history, the
proposed project already included plans to reroute the river,
assemble three giant bridges, create two lakes, and build the
largest urban park in the United States, replete with nature
trails and ballparks and delightful views of the city. This toll
road would require an equally ambitious feat of engineering.
And, we were told, our people were up to the challenge.  Earlier
this summer, after a two-year open-records fight led by the
Dallas Morning News, we learned that even back in 2007 the Army
Corps of Engineers was far from convinced that the toll ro