Precinct 1 is investing nearly $9.6 million in infrastructure and recreation projects to improve community connectivity and safety across south and west Houston. Precinct 1 is investing nearly $9.6 million in infrastructure and recreation projects to improve community connectivity and safety across south and west Houston.

The gist

Commissioner Rodney Ellis, alongside community leaders, announced funding for 16 projects across the precinct during a press conference Aug. 26. The grant money is part of Ellis’ Plan Together Partnerships Program, which invests in community-identified projects. The projects are designed to enhance safety, resiliency and community connectivity, according to a news release.

Ellis said the projects will allow residents to reach destinations without using a car and connect with their neighbors.

“Good infrastructure weaves the fabric of the community together,” Ellis said.

The $9.6 million will partially fund all the projects, which are estimated to cost about $60.5 million in total. Eleven projects received half of their total projected costs.

The projects will focus on planning, constructing and improving:

  • Neighborhood sidewalks
  • Trails
  • Drainage
  • Parks

Management districts, redevelopment authorities, municipal utility districts and community organizations will lead the projects, per the news release.

Although 16 projects were approved for funding in fiscal year 26-27, 10 were not. Ellis said there will be other opportunities for applicants who didn’t receive funding from the Partnerships Program, which is in its first year.

Zooming in

Of the 16 projects, three focus on planning, five focus on design and eight focus on design and construction.

Building a pedestrian bridge over Hwy. 90A received the most grant funding at $2 million. The project, which will connect Willow Waterhole Greenway with trails in Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 25, has been 10 years in the making, said George Anderson, chairman of the Hiram Clarke Fort Bend Redevelopment Authority.

“It will give nice recreational opportunities so people can walk, bike, use the trails, and allow for greater connectivity in the city,” Anderson told Community Impact.

A portion of funding is also going toward the Westbury Community Garden, a 7-acre allotment garden.

WCG President Debbie Gordon told Community Impact the garden “languished for 11 years” without sufficient funding to build infrastructure like parking lots, drainage ditches and detention ponds.

“This Harris County grant will allow us to make that hurdle, get those bones in place,” Gordon said.

With the funding, Gordon said the garden will be able to focus on holding more community events, educating visitors and installing shade structures and a demonstration kitchen.

Before you go

Precinct 1’s office, which oversees more than 8,500 acres of green space, also funded design for connecting trails at the Vogel Creek Greenway.

One trail is planned to run from the greenway to West Gulf Bank Road, connecting it with “high comfort bike lanes and pedestrian facilities” on West Mount Houston Road, Thomas Simpson, chief program officer of the Houston Parks Board, said.

The project will include a pedestrian bridge, neighborhood gateway and improved access to Eisenhower High School and Klein Intermediate School, he said.

On the south side of the greenway, Simpson said a 1.7 mile trail will connect the greenway to White Oak Bayou. The project will include gateways, safer road crossings and improved access to three schools, he said.

The trails will connect “tens of thousands of residents” who live within 1.5 miles of the projects, Simpson said.

“Harris County residents deserve first-class trail infrastructure that does double duty as safe, beautiful, community-building green space,” he said.

“Harris County residents deserve first-class trail infrastructure that does double duty as safe, beautiful, community-building green space,” he said.