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Just under a month ago, while driving down Hamblin Road, leaving my home in the Forest Cove subdivision of Kingwood for an appointment, I noticed there had been construction crews over night clearing trees and brush away from the heavily forested area that stretches from the railroad tracks to the former condominium complex that was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. I was really curious to find out what was going on, so I started to do a little digging. 

It turns out that the Houston Parks Board has begun construction on what is expected to be an incredible improvement to that area, featuring new off-street trails stretching from Loop 494 to Rivergrove Park at Woodland Hills, allowing Forest Cove subdivision residents to finally access the greenbelt trails which have long been available to the rest of the Kingwood area. 

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According to Houston Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Martin, our District E representative, the project has been underway for several years.

“Our City Council Office along with the Houston Parks Board have been working on the West Fork San Jacinto Bayou Greenways Project for several years. We are excited about this new green space with the construction of 2.6 miles of new trails, bike paths, and other amenities which will strengthen Kingwood’s status as the ‘Livable Forest,'" said Martin, "I am looking forward to the completion of the project and enjoying this amenity that supports all of our efforts to turn floodways into recreational green space." 

Other features of the greenway include parking for greenway users within the former Riverview Townhomes Community, new native trees, meadows and wildflowers, benches, hike and bike trails, seating areas, directional signage, and trash cans and recycling bins.

According to a release from Houston Parks Board, when completed, the new trails will stretch roughly 2.5 miles from Woodland Hills Drive at River Grove Park to Burning Tree Court, which is the first of approximately five entrances into the Forest Cove community. The $3.94 million greenway will feature hike and bike trails, seating areas, native flora, directional signage, and trash cans and recycling bins.

“We are delighted that construction on the San Jacinto Bayou Greenway is now underway,” said Beth White, President and CEO of the Houston Parks Board. “In addition to providing connectivity to nearby neighborhoods, this new greenway will preserve the surrounding land as green space for residents to enjoy for years to come.”

Construction is expected to take about a year, weather permitting. During construction, the public should not enter areas surrounded by orange caution fencing. Following construction, Houston Parks Board will continue ongoing maintenance of San Jacinto Bayou Greenway, which includes weekly trash pickup, bi-weekly mowing of grass along the trail, upkeep of the trail and amenities, and any necessary flood cleanup.

In the future, San Jacinto Bayou Greenway will connect into and through Harris County Precinct 4's Edgewater Park, which is in development, to the Spring Creek and Cypress Creek trail systems, also operated by Precinct 4.

The West Fork of the San Jacinto River rises seventeen miles west of Huntsville, in western Walker County and flows southeast ninety miles through Montgomery County to its confluence with the East Fork of the San Jacinto River on the northern rim of Lake Houston in northeastern Harris County. The waterway eventually makes its way all the way to Galveston Bay.

San Jacinto Bayou Greenway is one of nine bayous being transformed as part of Bayou Greenways 2020, a public-private partnership between the nonprofit Houston Parks Board, the City of Houston, and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department. The initiative is implemented in close collaboration with the Harris County Flood Control District, which manages the county’s bayous and creeks for drainage and flood risk reduction. Bayou Greenways 2020 will transform 3,000 acres of underutilized land along nine major waterways and create a 150-mile network of connected parks and trails along Houston’s major waterways.

Thanks to Kinder Foundation’s visionary leadership and transformational gift, as well as the extraordinary generosity of the Hildebrand Foundation, Houston Endowment, The Brown Foundation Inc. and many other Houstonians, Houston Parks Board has surpassed its goal of assembling more than $225 million to invest in Bayou Greenways. The fundraising journey began in 2012 when Houston voters resoundingly approved a bond to provide $100 million in funds to the Bayou Greenways 2020 initiative. Houston Parks Board has since more than matched this number through a $125 million capital campaign.