Trails at Mercer Botanic Gardens in Humble remained closed in October.[/caption]
Parks in Harris County Precinct 4 were hit hard by flooding in April and May, but most of the trails are now open as sand washed up from area creeks has been removed from the parks along Cypresswood Drive in Spring, Parks Director Dennis Johnston said.
The Spring Creek Greenway, a 40-mile trail system that includes Dennis Johnston Park, Pundt Park and Carter Park in Spring, was hit the hardest by floods this spring, Johnston said.
The final piece of construction needed to reopen trails at the eastern end of the system in Mercer Botanic Gardens will be complete by spring or summer of 2017, he said.
“They had to tear [the trails] up and put them back down,” Johnston said.
Park officials said they had not yet determined the total financial cost of the year’s floods.
Area bridges were also affected during the year’s multiple severe weather events.
A bridge connecting Jesse H. Jones Park in Humble to Hwy. 59 was washed out and will be replaced by the end of the year, while the section of Spring Creek Greenway connecting Jones and Johnston parks in Spring is opened, he said.
Collins and Meyer parks on Cypresswood Drive, which are connected by a trail, did not sustain heavy damage. Sand removed from those trails was hauled away or deposited in wooded areas, Johnston said.
A dam was washed away at the pond at Burroughs Park off Hufsmith Road in Tomball, but repairs were completed on the dam in October, he said.
The only Precinct 4 trail still closed as of late October is the far eastern end of Mercer Park in Humble, which was covered in sand just before a grand opening was planned for the trail in the spring. A walking bridge in the area is also being reconstructed before next summer, he said.
“We learned a lot,” Johnston said. “We found along Spring Creek where we have sandy soils. We have to put something under the bridges to keep [them] from washing away.”
Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said the flooded parks were an indication that the county’s work preserving those natural areas had served its intended purpose, by providing nonresidential areas for flood waters to accumulate.
“Our greenway has blossomed and grown despite the storms that came through,” Cagle said. “During the floods my heart at first sunk when I saw the water out to the gates, but water in the parks was a beautiful thing as opposed to a bad thing. My mind leaps with joy because I realized the water was in the parks and not the peoples’ homes.”
Trails at Mercer Botanic Gardens in Humble remained closed in October.[/caption]
Parks in Harris County Precinct 4 were hit hard by flooding in April and May, but most of the trails are now open as sand washed up from area creeks has been removed from the parks along Cypresswood Drive in Spring, Parks Director Dennis Johnston said.
The Spring Creek Greenway, a 40-mile trail system that includes Dennis Johnston Park, Pundt Park and Carter Park in Spring, was hit the hardest by floods this spring, Johnston said.
The final piece of construction needed to reopen trails at the eastern end of the system in Mercer Botanic Gardens will be complete by spring or summer of 2017, he said.
“They had to tear [the trails] up and put them back down,” Johnston said.
Park officials said they had not yet determined the total financial cost of the year’s floods.
Area bridges were also affected during the year’s multiple severe weather events.
A bridge connecting Jesse H. Jones Park in Humble to Hwy. 59 was washed out and will be replaced by the end of the year, while the section of Spring Creek Greenway connecting Jones and Johnston parks in Spring is opened, he said.
Collins and Meyer parks on Cypresswood Drive, which are connected by a trail, did not sustain heavy damage. Sand removed from those trails was hauled away or deposited in wooded areas, Johnston said.
A dam was washed away at the pond at Burroughs Park off Hufsmith Road in Tomball, but repairs were completed on the dam in October, he said.
The only Precinct 4 trail still closed as of late October is the far eastern end of Mercer Park in Humble, which was covered in sand just before a grand opening was planned for the trail in the spring. A walking bridge in the area is also being reconstructed before next summer, he said.
“We learned a lot,” Johnston said. “We found along Spring Creek where we have sandy soils. We have to put something under the bridges to keep [them] from washing away.”
Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said the flooded parks were an indication that the county’s work preserving those natural areas had served its intended purpose, by providing nonresidential areas for flood waters to accumulate.
“Our greenway has blossomed and grown despite the storms that came through,” Cagle said. “During the floods my heart at first sunk when I saw the water out to the gates, but water in the parks was a beautiful thing as opposed to a bad thing. My mind leaps with joy because I realized the water was in the parks and not the peoples’ homes.”
