Burned bridge for bicyclists won’t be back until spring
Bike riders who pedal through the Heights will need to keep burning calories past a key connection closed by fire in the region’s growing trail system.
Just in time for winter, however, parks officials at least have a plan to reopen the MKT bridge in place, news welcomed by local cyclists eager to cross easily over White Oak Bayou again.
“It’s just a killer to lose that bridge,” said Craig Arthur, 29, who bikes recreationally at least four days a week, often along the Heights Hike and Bike Trail. “I know a lot of people are wondering when it will reopen.”
The closest answer officials could give now is, probably in the spring. A glimmer of hope but also a long wait as cycling interest in the area grows.
As soon as Houston public works and engineering officials clear construction permits and verify the repair work, crews can repair abutments and slopes on the sides of the bridge, said Beth White, president and CEO of Houston Parks Board. Repairs would take between 45 and 60 days and cost about $100,000, paid for by the nonprofit parks board, which oversees the $220 million Bayou Greenways program.
The MKT bridge closed Aug. 19, when Houston firefighters responded to a call about a brush fire affecting the bridge. Crews arrived to find a small wooded area ablaze and charring the wooden beams of the bridge.
“The flames were pretty dramatic that day,” White said.
A firefighter and an arson investigator were treated for minor injuries as a result of the fire, which officials said remains under investigation. The bridge dates back decades, part of the old Missouri- Kansas-Texas Railroad line that was repurposed a decade ago as the Heights Hike and Bike Trail.
After the fire was extinguished, Houston Parks Department crews erected barriers to prevent anyone from crossing or approaching the bridge as the entire span was inspected. The structural analysis, paid for by the parks board though the Heights Trail is not part of the Greenways program, showed no major damage to the beams or span but said work along
the abutments and berms that the bridge is anchored within was needed. White said the fact damage was minimal was a welcome discovery and also meant work could start much sooner.
“The trail users are really eager to see that bridge reopen,” she said.
With the bridge out, bicyclists follow a detour that takes them along Heights Boulevard and the White Oak Trail, adding about three- quarters of a mile to the trip.
White Oak Bayou near Stude Park is a key junction in the region’s sprawling trail system, tucked in Woodland Heights near Interstate 10. Trails along the northern banks ofWhite Oak from downtown end at Stude Park, while the trails on the southbound side connect to the Heights trail a few yards fromthe end of the MKT trestle bridge. That makes the span vital and its closing a substantial break in the chain.
Based on an assessment of Bayou Greenway trail use from May-to-July, White Oak Trail represents 59 percent of all use along the five bayou trail systems. At spots along the trail, the number of average daily riders in October was more than double that of October 2019.
“I’m still seeing more people than ever before, and it’s freezing,” said Nicole Romano, 33, as she waited to cross Sawyer on the Heights trail, a few blocks from the closed bridge, during a Monday evening run.
White said it is growth parks board officials want to nourish as they expand the system. The better the biking and running amenities and the more neighborhoods that are connected to safe, continuous trails, the more people will use them, she said, citing various projects around the area.
“It really is down payment on park equity,” she said of work along the bayous, notably Sims and Brays and street connections to those trails. “That access and connectivity is a natural part.”
Bayou Greenways has 122 miles of open trail and another 47 in various stages of planning and design, White said.
Plans include a key link taking shape in the shadow of the closed bridge, where the trail along the northern bank of White Oak will extend to the future Bayou Greenway Park.
Flood control officials will handle a bridge spanning a small drainage canal where the bridge ends.
For now, it’s where Marc Ramirez often ends his ride from Houston’s east side, resting for a moment below the bridge where Studemont becomes Studewood. He said as a “weekend warrior” who morphed into someone setting out three-tofive days a week on his 21- speed, he’s marveled at the progress, but also the gaps.
“It’s really coming together,” Ramirez said. “It’s just amazing to think we have not had this the whole time… Now, ifwe can ever fix it so there isn’t someplace I feel like there’s a missing piece.”
“It’s just a killer to lose that bridge. I know a lot of people are wondering when it will reopen.”
Craig Arthur, bikes recreationally