Eureka Corridor bike connections
The photo above shows a scarce urban resource: an unused corridor. This is the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas line, here crossing
under I-45 and over White Oak Bayou at UH Downtown. When the line became redundant as a result of railroad mergers, TXDOT bought the line to use as additional right-of-way for expanding the Katy Freeway. But TXDOT had no use in mind for the portion
of the line inside the 610 loop, so it sits empty. Harris County might want to use parts of it for a toll road. METRO might want to put
light rail or commuter rail here. And the City of Houston has plans to turn much of it into a bike path. See more in our fact sheet.
The bikeway plan is the most advanced of those. You can see it in context in the pdf map on the COH bikeways site. But the city plan seems to be languishing. It also has a critical omission: it shows a bike trail from Downtown through the Heights to Shepherd, and a bike trail along White Oak Bayou north of that, but no connection between the two.
The White Oak Bayou Association has a proposal to fix that, with a nicely done map:
WOBA is seeking the City of Houston’s support for a TxDOT STEP grant to fund this rails-to-trails project, and the deadline is in late April. The Eureka Trail runs through Houston City Council districts A and H, so if you support the project, please contact Council Members Toni Lawrence
Linda Mercer of WOBA also provides some explanation:
March 11, 2006: The city of Houston Bikeway Coordinator, Liibeth Andre, has asked for letters of Support regarding the purchase of the Eureka corridor MKT ROW, and the MKT ROW west to 610 and east to U of H. The Coordinator reports that the City would like to purchase the RR ROW easements to enhance the existing transportation corridor in an area east of Shepherd where ‘we are building a rails-to-trails project [ that connects to many destinations along existing bikeways”. The COH bikeway coordinator would like to nominate the easement purchase
as a State Transportation Enhancement Program which means that the COH will compete with other areas in Texas for selection. If selected, the COH would be responsible for 20% of the acquisition costs, the remainder coming from federal allocations to projects selected by states’ departments of transportation. To support the purchase of the RR easements for bikeway program enhancements, please send letters to:Mr. Michael S. Maccotte, P.E., D.E.E.
Director, Public Works and Engineering Department
611 Walker, 25th Floor
Houston, TX 77002
RE: MKT ROW between UH downtown and 610
They’re holding a meeting at 7:00 pm on Thursday, March 30. If you’re interested, send an email to WOBA VP Linda Mercer at EurekaRedHawks@yahoo.com.
A bike trail doesn’t look much like a freeway or a light rail line. But many of the same principles apply. You want to build connections. A bike trail from the Heights to Downtown? Good. A bike trail from Oak Forest and the Heights to Downtown? Better. A bike trial network linking all of the above with Memorial Park, Uptown, and the Buffalo Bayou bike trail? Much better.
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