New Bayou Greenway Now Connects Kingwood, Forest Cove
The Houston Parks Board’s newest leg of the San Jacinto Bayou Greenway is nearing completion. Construction started near River Grove Park in Kingwood and is working its way west toward Harris County Precinct 4’s new Edgewater Park at US59.
First Leg Now Concreted, Others Under Construction
The first leg of the concrete trail connects River Grove Park and the Kingwood Trail Network to Hamblen Road in Forest Cove. From there, the trail snakes through streets in the Northshore neighborhood, such as Northshore Drive and Sunrise Trail. It currently stops just north of the Forest Cove little league fields on Forest Cove Drive. However, the trail will continue west; that’s just the extent of current construction. At the ends of streets that don’t connect, the Parks Board is building connector trails for hikers and bikers.
The only portion of the San Jacinto Bayou Greenway completely concreted to date links Woodland Hills Drive and Hamblen. Other portions of the trail are partially concreted, and some are still being cleared. Construction fences are still up, even in the areas with concrete, as crews have not yet finished installing benches and planting grass.
Not Yet Quite Bike Ready
Net: Don’t take your bike through there yet. These pictures taken this afternoon show the current state of construction.
Trail is actively being cleared farther to the east, but it’s not yet passable. The cleared portion currently terminates at Marina Drive near the Forest Cove Pool, behind the townhomes destroyed by Harvey.
While th San Jacinto Bayou Greenway project will help to revitalize the area, some residents who survived the storm and rebuilt their homes lament the loss of seclusion. However, avid hikers and bikers will no doubt will love the trail which will connect to the Spring Creek Greenway and take people up to the Woodlands. It represents a vast expansion of connected trails in the area and will rival the largest urban trail networks in the country – if it won’t be the largest.
That will put Kingwood and Forest Cove back in the news again in an immensely positive way. It will also create a magnet that improves home values again and attracts younger couples with children trying take advantage of Humble ISD schools.
This project has been in the planning stages since shortly after Harvey. It was just last month that the first leg of the trail connecting River Grove and Hamblen was cleared. Crews have made considerable progress since then.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/19/2021
1298 Days since Hurricane Harvey
