CITY OF KATY (Covering Katy News) — City officials unveiled plans for a new hike and bike trail during a town hall meeting held on Sept. 10 at the Katy Civic Center, 910 Avenue C. Once completed, the trail will stretch from Leyendecker Landing to downtown Katy and will be developed in stages, with final completion expected by 2027.
The project is estimated to cost approximately $3 million. City Engineer David Kasper said about $2 million will be funded through a $4.2 million parks improvement bond approved by Katy voters in May 2021. The remaining funds will come from METRO allocations distributed through the Katy Development Authority.
The trail is planned to begin at Leyendecker Landing, a city water detention facility at the northeast corner of Pitts Road and Morton Road. It will then proceed east along Morton Road, turn southeast through Cane Island and the Falls at Green Meadow, and continue along Franz Road. The trail will then turn south just east of Celebrate Life Church, 6205 Franz Road, reaching 10th Street before heading east to Avenue C and continuing south to the Historic Downtown Square.
City Administrator Byron Hebert emphasized the careful planning that went into the project, with an aim to route the trail away from as many residential areas as possible. “When we first looked at it, we knew the subdivisions were going to be coming in,” Hebert said. “We tried to plan it as much as we could, at least through Cane Island.”
Hebert addressed questions about why the trail couldn’t extend to 1st Street instead of 10th Street, explaining that engineers deemed it unsafe to manage traffic at that location. “The only way we could actually do that was to put in a signal at Avenue D,” he said. “That way, it would be a four-way stop with the pedestrians.”
The intersection at 10th Street and Avenue D currently features a four-way stop with stop signs.
Kevin Browne, who became Katy parks director in July 2021, noted that the trail is part of a broader parks master plan developed in collaboration with the consulting group that helped update the city’s overall master plan. “We wanted to make sure that we were planning for that because we knew it was coming down the pipe,” Browne said. “Over the course of about nine months, we had a number of similar sessions to this town hall. We had a very well-responded-to citizen survey that went out, and overwhelmingly the number one amenity that people wanted to see in the City of Katy was a trail system.”
The remainder of the bond funds will be allocated to other parks improvements, including the construction of a parks administration building. In December 2021, the city acquired the Old Fussell House at 5402 Franz Road to serve as the headquarters for the parks department.
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An overall depiction of the Katy trail that will be built between north Katy and Downtown Katy.
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A depiction of the Katy trail going through Cane Island.
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A depiction of the Katy trail continuing through Cane Island.
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A depiction of the Katy trail going through Falls at Green Meadow.
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A depiction of the Katy trail continuing through Fallas at Green Meadow.
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A depiction of the Katy trail going through Falls at Green Meadow.
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A depiction of the Katy trail running south to 10th Street.