Bayou Greenways 2020 is a $220 million recreation and conservation project using Houston’s bayous to connect people to nature – and each other.
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Houston has been greening up the gray of its cityscape with a parks-for-everyone initiative called Bayou Greenways 2020.
The public-private project is transforming 3,000 underused acres adjacent to nine bayous lacing the city’s 600 square miles into a network of connected parks and trails for recreation, conservation and hike-and-bike transportation. The $220 million budget – a combo of city and raised funds – covers greenspace acquisition, design, refurbishment and ongoing maintenance.
When completed next year, 150 miles of accessible, connected greenways – with 90 miles of new trails – will be located within 1.5 miles of 60 percent of Houston’s population, now an estimated 7 million.
While equitable access to nature for a healthier lifestyle has been a key driver of the project, community connectivity within and between neighborhoods, and economic vitality are also factors, said Houston Parks Board (HPB) officials at a media showcase of scope and status.
Non-profit HPB is spearheading the Bayou Greenways 2020 project with partners City of Houston and Harris County Flood Control District. In addition, a collaborating team represents the plethora of public jurisdictions affected by the citywide improvements, private investors and philanthropic supporters.
“Because of the common geography, it (the project) connects the city,” said Beth White, HPB president and CEO. “It’s quite extraordinary.”
Connecting the Dots
HPB has been a community park development and advocacy resource since its founding in 1976.
Bayou Greenways 2020 formally launched in 2012, following a bond referendum in which voters approved $100 million toward the undertaking. Fundraising, led by a $50 million catalyst gift from Kinder Foundation, is nearing its $120 million goal, HPB sources said.
To date, about 250 greenway-related projects – both large and small – have brought elements of the master plan into use. That includes new and rehabilitated trail segments, neighborhood parks, land acquisition for additional greenspace, pedestrian bridges, habitat-sensitive landscaping and ongoing maintenance of improvements. The latter includes stabilizing banks and sink holes when needed, such as after flooding.
In June, the latest completed link of the park system opens officially in the Sims Bayou Greenway, completing the system along its 30-plus mile course. Although a small piece of the overall network, White said, this latest project incorporates two important firsts. The 1.5-mile bike trail is the first to occupy a section of utility easement (enabled by state legislative changes) and it was funded by the service provider, CenterPoint Energy.
A 2020 progress report for Bayou Greenways indicates another 47 miles of improvements around the city are in the chute. And while better drainage is paramount in a city that has had several devastating floods, White noted, the greenways are resilient.
And so are their users, she said. “People still want to be on the bayous. They want to be next to greenspace and recreation.”
Each of the bayous has a unique personality, she said. Some have wetlands, others woodlands. What they now share is that you can get to them.
Green Infrastructure
Like many modern cities, Houston has recognized how its “green infrastructure” is an asset for many purposes, White said. “Cities are investing in parks in a way we haven’t seen since the City Beautiful Movement,” more than a century ago.
In Houston, the waterfront – meaning its bayous and creeks – has not been “celebrated,” said Tom Bacon, HPB chairman. “We took all our bayous in the postwar period and treated them as drainage ditches. We turned our back on them.”
And now? The same once-ignored waterfront has a role in “what kind of city we want to be,” he said. “Houston is looking at itself in a very different way, with parks and recreation at the heart of it.”
Meanwhile, having an activated, equitably accessible waterfront is an important tool for competing with other cities also seeking ways to offer the kind of live-work-play environments now in demand, he said.
The scope and scale of Bayou Greenways ranks as one of the biggest investments in park equity in the country, White said. That the project includes long-range maintenance has been particularly of note in the urban planning realm and with donors.
Modernizing a Century-old Idea
Connected greenspace in Houston is not a new idea, White noted. The genesis of using the bayous as the backbone of the park system dates back to a 1913 plan by landscape architect Arthur Comey.
Bayou Greenways 2020 has greatly expanded that early plan, Bacon said. “Groups came together to make this happen. They’re inspired.” Among the team entities are City of Houston’s parks and recreation department, its public works department, Harris County Flood Control District, the Army Corps of Engineers, Texas Department of Transportation, county commissioners, neighborhood and civic clubs, schools and donors, hundreds of donors.
Modern technology also had a significant role, he said. His example: the complexities of identifying and juggling 450 property acquisitions.
White said the Bayou Greenways 2020 started as an urban park project but has turned into so much more.