Building bridges
PARKS & RECREATION Groups calls for pedestrian bridges to connect area trails
The two proposed bridges would help ll a 1.3-mile gap between existing bridges over White Oak Bayou in the community. The goal is to provide a more convenient connection for pedestrians between communities in the Heights and those south of I-10.
Proposed Existing
Cottage Grove bridge
T C JESTER BLVD.
6TH ST.
“This [project] ... seemed like it was really low-hanging fruit because it’s so easy to do, yet it’s so transformative.” EMMANUEL NUNEZ, FOUNDER OF A TALE OF TWO BRIDGES
BY SOFIA GONZALEZ
The Texas Department of Trans- portation is already taking the lead on one bridge near Rutland Street, having been awarded $2.4 million by the Houston-Galveston Area Council for the project. Plans for the second bridge at Patterson Street have not yet developed. After launching an Instagram page to raise awareness, Nunez said people were immediately excited, calling the project something that is “missing from the community.” “So this happened to be [a proj- ect] that seemed like it was really low-hanging fruit because it’s so easy to do, yet it’s so transformative,” Nunez said. The two bridges would also provide improved access to transit stops and safer access to schools, businesses and churches along the Washington Corridor, Nunez said. ATOTB garnered support from
PATTERSON PARK
Community advocates came together at Patterson Park on Aug. 10 to raise awareness for a project that would connect the Heights area to neighborhoods south of I-10 with two new bridges. The group that set up the meeting, A Tale of Two Bridges, was started by Heights resident Emmanuel Nunez in February. The project calls for building two bridges over White Oak Bayou to give pedestrians and cyclists easier access between the MKT Trail in the Heights and the White Oak Bayou Trail, which runs through the Heights while also connecting to communities south of I-10 and the Bu alo Bayou Trail. There is a 1.3-mile gap between existing bridges over White Oak Bayou in the area: the Cottage Grove bridge and the bridges at Heights Boulevard and Yale Street.
B
I
K B A Y O
Heights Boulevard bridges
10
Yale Street bridge
N
SOURCE: A TALE OF TWO BRIDGES COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Mayor Sylvester Turner, who said the project is about designing a city for the future that is focused on multi- modal forms of transportation. “It’s about building a resilient city,” Turner said at the Aug. 10 event. Houston Chief Transportation Planner David Fields said the project is in its infancy, but city sta is happy to work on the design and coordina- tion with entities such as the TxDOT. Those who travel by bike do not
have many direct routes, BikeHous- ton Executive Director Joe Cutrufo said. Instead, they are forced to take a roundabout way to nd streets that are safe and connected to trails. Despite being in the early stages of the project, Nunez said he would like to see the two bridges completed by the 2026 World Cup. “I want people to see Houston not as the city of freeways, but as the city of parks,” Nunez said.
2022 VOTER GUIDE COMING SOON
LOCAL CANDIDATES & ORGANIZATIONS: CONTACT US FOR ADVERTISING
DIGITAL
DIRECT MAIL
�866� 989�6808 � COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM�ADVERTISE
12
COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook