The first of three meetings to gather feedback from the community regarding the Cypress Creek Greenway project took place March 19 in Cypress, during which visitors had the chance to fill out a survey concerning the project and study maps of the greenway area.
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 provide guidance regarding the project's case study, which lasts through April.
Ideally, representatives from CDS Spillette Alliance and Marsh Darcy Partners 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.
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. During the public meetings, maps of the Cypress Creek area and the boundaries of all the MUDs within a certain distance from the creek are on display, giving residents a chance to provide feedback about what features they would like to see along the greenway, whether it be a bike rack, parking lot or greenway entrances.
"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.
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 Park at N. Eldridge Parkway and Cypress Creek, which will also feature a 40-acre lake when complete. In Harris County Precinct 4, on land formerly owned by Hewlett-Packard near Chasewood Drive and Hwy. 249, the Kickerillo Mischer Preserve will also serve as part of the greenway when it is complete.
For more information on the case study and to take the survey, visit www.facebook.com/cypresscreekgreenwaycasestudy or https://www.research.net/s/JNMV89P.
Two additional open houses will be from 6:30–8:30 p.m. on:
Thursday, March 21
Cypress Creek Christian Church
6823 Cypresswood Drive, Spring
Tuesday, March 26
Mercer Arboretum and Botanical Gardens
22306 Aldine Westfield Road, Humble
