The trail loop begins construction as one of four trail loops ranging from a half mile to 2.3 miles long at the development and comes as the Katy Boardwalk District nears completion on the first of three roadways into the property, the first starting in September, according to an Aug. 23 announcement.
The second phase of the trail project includes building out a 1.15-mile path made up of paved trails lined with native trees and landscape, wood-type boardwalk paths and a steel pedestrian bridge, according to the announcement. Educational signs will also be installed along the trail to help visitors identify native trees, flora and wildlife.
The trail will span 9 feet in width and will connect with the first phase of a 2.3-mile loop circling the district’s 90-acre lake and nature preserve, according to the news release. The completion of the trail is expected by early summer 2023.
“We expect the trail loops with their varying distances to become a popular feature for those in Katy looking for a lakefront walking or jogging experience as well as residents of the Boardwalk Lofts and guests of the conference center hotel,” Katy City Administrator Byron Hebert said. “The entire boardwalk will benefit from the trail loops.”
Once opened, the outer loop trail will serve the Boardwalk Lofts, which opened in early November 2021.
Meanwhile, crews are readying for the extension of Katy Fort Bend Road from Kingsland Boulevard directly to the project’s main entrance and its primary thoroughfare, Boardwalk Drive, according to the release. The extension includes a bridge over a drainage channel and a new traffic signal at the intersection of Kingsland Boulevard and Katy Fort Bend Road and Boardwalk Drive.
“Direct access from I-10 will be a big selling point for the project,” said Keith Dalton of KBH Venture, co-developer of Katy Boardwalk District in the news release.
This extension project comes as another extension, of Prairie Parkway from Kingsland Boulevard into the Katy Boardwalk District to Boardwalk Drive, is nearing completion, and is expected by the end of September.
