Houston Parks Board celebrated Bayou Greenway Day, Saturday April 4, 2015 at Mason Park and Spurlock Park (among 4 parks on the east side of Houston, Texas).

HOUSTON—One of the most ambitious parks projects in the nation is happening right here in Houston. Bayou Greenways 2020, a public-private partnership between Houston Parks Board and the Parks and Recreation Department, is connecting people all over Houston to parks, green space and each other.

This project of transforming the underutilized land along the nine major bayous into linear parks will significantly expand the park system by creating a 150-mile network of parks and trails. This will give Houstonians unprecedented access to approximately 3,000 acres of green space.

The project is being built in close collaboration with the Harris County Flood Control District, which manages the county's bayous and creeks for drainage and flood risk reduction. The parks board is leading the private fundraising effort and managing the acquisition, design and construction of the Bayou Greenways 2020 Project, named for its anticipated completion date.

The cost to complete Bayou Greenways 2020 will be $220 million. In the November 2012 election, thanks in part to the “Parks By You!” campaign, Houston voters overwhelmingly approved a major bond referendum providing $166 million in parks funding, $100 million of which is set aside for Bayou Greenways 2020, GlobeSt.com learns.

Houston Parks Board is responsible for raising the remaining $120 million from private funds, federal and state grants, and other sources. The board's fundraising efforts have taken the pool to more than 50% of that goal so far.

The effort is important because the bayous touch just about every neighborhood in Houston. By transforming underutilized land along the bayous, Bayou Greenways 2020 will bring new public and accessible greenspace to many under-parked parts of the city.

In addition, the Bayou Greenways will serve as places for personal and community discovery and exploration of nature, history, diversity, culture and heritage. These free parks will provide places for Houstonians to connect, meet, recreate and celebrate.

Every effort will be made to maximize both physical and visual access to the Bayou Greenways, in addition to maintaining respect for the natural setting and ecological significance of the bayou corridors. Completing Houston's Bayou Greenways will fulfill a 100 year-old vision to create continuous and accessible parks and trails along the major bayous within the city, GlobeSt.com learns. In 1912, Arthur Comey, a visionary urban planner, laid out a master plan for Houston with its park system organized around its bayou corridors. In this plan, continuous ribbons of green along Houston's bayous connected Houston's parks along its major bayous.

“The backbone of a park system for Houston will naturally be its bayou or creek valleys, which readily lend themselves to parks and cannot so advantageously be used for any other purpose,” Comey wrote.

Bayou Greenways 2020 is just one phase of an even greater vision, the Bayou Greenways Initiative. Bayou Greenways 2020 is the portion of the Bayou Greenways Initiative that is located within the Houston city limits.

The initiative is the overarching idea to develop connected green corridors with hike and bike trails along the bayous of the greater Houston area. This is a long-range and Harris County-wide initiative.

The Buffalo Bayou Partnership and the Cypress Creek Flood Control Coalition are leading individual projects along the bayous that fall within the Bayou Greenways Initiative.

Instant Insights /

Bayou Greenways is a Staggering 3,000 Acres

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