Where Not To Park When Checking Out The New White Oak Bike Trail Segment This Weekend

Pedestrian Bridge over White Oak at Durham St.

The section of bayou-hugging greenway trail running between Durham St. and Stude Park is getting the official OK tomorrow morning from Harris County Flood Control District and the Houston Parks Board. The photo above is of the pedestrian bridge across White Oak near Durham St. that previously supplanted the area’s “Bridge of Death” route; the segment opening tomorrow runs from that same bridge east along the bayou to the Studemont St. non-pedestrian bridge. The organizers are hoping would-be trail fans will use some means other than car to get to the ceremony location (off Studemont just north of I-10); if you have to drive, however, the invitation says you might be able to get a parking space across the freeway north of  Target.

Further east along the White Oak trail, here’s an updated view of how that link into Near Northside by the Leonel Castillo Community Center is coming along (taken in mid-November, once again from the same spot as that glitzed-up flood photo that made an appearance in Air New Zealand’s recent in-flight feature on Texas):

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Bayou Greenways Trail Work --- White Oak by Leonel Castillo Community Center, Near Northside, 77009

Air New Zealand Houston Piece

A bit further south, a reader snapped a photo following some of the recent tree-clearing as crews prepare to link the whole White-Oak-Heights system to the Buffalo Bayou trails, along the Buffalo banks beneath University of Houston Downtown at the Main St. bridge:

Bayou Trail Work by UH Downtown

The parks folks also released a few sneak peeks this morning at the 1.6-mile segment of new Brays Bayou trail tracing from the University of Houston central campus in Third Ward southwest toward Gragg Park. The route (currently decked out in fertilizer-blue) should be wrapped up some time in early 2017:

Bayou Greenways Trail Work --- Brays Bayou between UH and 90A

Bayou Greenways Trail Work --- Brays Bayou between UH and 90A

Photos: Houston Parks Board (White Oak, Leonel Castillo, and Brays Bayou trail work), Kia Ora (magazine spread), Christine Wilson (Work at UH Downtown)

Greenways Growth Spurts

6 Comment

  • It does not link at all with stude park or the rest of the white oak trail. The only way to get there is to walk on the grass, and hop over a creek and then get on the dead-end path that _still_ isn’t finished. I don’t see why they’d celebrate this disjointed path mess.

  • Dag, I agree, celebration seems premature since the only alternative to your off-road route is riding down White Oak Blvd dodging the drunks between Fitzgerald’s and Onion Creek. Wonder what the plan is for that dead end?

  • ^Fitzgeralds isn’t even open during the day. SMH

  • Hmmm, are you guys not familiar with the spring street trail? This opening essentially removes half the street crossings when traveling from\to downtown along the white oak trail. It will be great when they finally connect Stude Park but this is an awesome thing!

  • There is a plan to connect the dead end to stude park but it is funded by the City, not Bayou Greenways. The construction plans have been completed, bid on, and awarded by city council for almost a year now but they keep pushing the start date back. Looks like the construction of the connector isn’t going to start until Summer.

  • @OhBrother I guess coming in from Katy I can understand why you’ve not seen that area since it was only Fitz and Jimmie’s.