Fort Worth to partially reopen downtown street closed by explosion at Sandman Hotel

A portion of West Eight Street closed in January after the Sandman Hotel explosion could reopen later this month.

The section between Houston and Throckmorton Street could open as early as July 22 , according to the city of Fort Worth, however, the city is working with a contractor hired by the hotel to see if the timeline can be moved up.

The city has provided $137,000 in economic development grants to businesses along the closed section of West Eighth Street.

Several have worried about the lack of foot traffic impacting their businesses. The downtown business advocacy nonprofit Downtown Fort Worth Inc. launched a social media campaign to support businesses affected by the blast.

The Sandman’s contractor First on Site has completed temporary repairs of the street, and will open one lane of traffic as soon as it installs steel plates to protect the pit closest to the blast site, the city’ announced.

A reopening date for the hotel has not been determined.