Community leaders and two planning groups have finished gathering feedback on ways to implement the Cypress Creek Greenway—a future set of connecting trails and parks.

When complete, the Cypress Creek Greenway will run from west of Hwy. 290 along Cypress Creek until it ends near Jesse H. Jones Park and connects with the Spring Creek Greenway, which borders Harris and Montgomery counties. Anchor parks, several of which are already complete, will connect the future trail system every two or three miles and give residents a place to hike, bike, jog and run.

"It's an amazing and incredibly beautiful area," said Jim Robertson, chairman of the Cypress Creek Greenway project. "We're retrofitting and trying to put in parks in areas that are already heavily developed."

Late last year, the Houston-Galveston Area Council awarded a $100,000 grant to urban consulting and market research group CDS Spillette Alliance and real estate and planning firm Marsh Darcy Partners to help implement the Cypress Creek Greenway. A stakeholder group consisting of local residents, county personnel and the Cy-Fair Houston and Northwest Houston chambers of commerce provided guidance regarding the project's case study.

Ideally, representatives from CDS/Spillette Alliance and Marsh Darcy Partners said they hope the case study will help identify other aspects of the project, including funding sources, desired features and maintenance issues.

"The minimum that we would like to achieve here is to have some form of support from groups that mean something for moving the greenway forward," said Steven Spillette, president of CDS/Spillette Alliance.

During the public meetings held earlier this spring, guests had the chance to provide feedback relating to features they would like to see on the greenway, ranging from a parking lot to entrances to bike racks.

Since a large portion of the area in which the future Cypress Creek Greenway runs is unincorporated, there are multiple entities involved with the project, ranging from the county to developers to municipal utility districts.

"The aim is to get [MUDs] involved because in an unincorporated area they're the taxing entity that residents go to in order to get projects done," said Ty Jacobsen, market analyst with CDS/Spillette Alliance.

The Norchester Maintenance Fund is one of the neighborhood groups working to implement the greenway project.

"We want to work with the greenway [organization] to improve the area and make our community better," said Robert Berleth, president of the board.

Although it will take years for the entire project to be completed, there are several future parks in the works in northwest Harris County along the greenway.

Harris County Precinct 3 is working on the 140-acre Cypress Creek Park at N. Eldridge Parkway and Cypress Creek, which will also feature a 40-acre lake when completed.

In late April, Harris County completed a final transfer and purchase on land formerly owned by Hewlett-Packard near Chasewood Drive and Hwy. 249—known as the 100-Acre Wood Reserve—which will also serve as part of the Cypress Creek Greenway.