Willow Fork Drainage District has completed a new project that will make it safer for students to walk to Cinco Ranch Junior High and Cinco Ranch High school – and which will also benefit cyclists, walkers and nature lovers who walk along Buffalo Bayou at Cinco Ranch Blvd.

The district held an official ribbon cutting on June 4 for a new five-mile trail that stretches from Willow Fork Park to Exploration Park. The trail features a sidewalk that is ten feet wide that goes under the busy thoroughfare. The project was first envisioned in 2018, officials said.

Pointing to the underpass behind him, Willow Fork Drainage District Board President John Savage said, “Prior to its installation, a hazardous situation existed for bicyclists, runners and walkers crossing Cinco Ranch Blvd. In May 2019, approximately 24,000 vehicles per day passed the old crossing. With the installation of the underpass, a safer means is now being provided for crossing Cinco Ranch Blvd.”

“Due to the coordinated efforts of many organizations, and people in our community who care about bike and pedestrian safety of all, we now have a brand-new underpass of Cinco Ranch Blvd, just West of Target,” Katy ISD Board of Trustees Vice President Dawn Champagne, who was present at the ceremony. “This is where many of our Cinco Ranch High School and Cinco Ranch Jr High School students have to cross the street. Now, they won’t have to cross the street at all. There is nothing more important than the safety of our students. This new underpass is truly to be celebrated. And it represents what a community can do when it comes together.”

During the planning and construction phases, Willow Fork Draining District was responsible for the management of the project, Savage said, under the direction of board members Joe Robertson, Gregg Nady, Sarah Hubbell, Alec Bray and Savage.

In order to construct the underpass, Willow Fork Drainage District solicited over ten local entities that would benefit from its construction. Nine contributed to the $800,000 project: Fort Bend County, Cinco MUD 12, Cinco Ranch Residential Property Association, Grand Lakes WCID, Cinco SW MUDS 1 and 4, Grand Lakes MUDS 2 and 4, Cinco MUD 10, Kings Lake HOA and the district.

Willow Fork Drainage District is already at work on future trails, Nady said.

The planned XYZ trail from Exploration Park to Fort Bend Freedom Park is 1.43 miles long and we hope to start construction in July.

The planned segment Q trail will go from the Camden Downs Apartments at 2495 S. Mason Rd. into George Bush Park with an underpass of Fry Rd. The trail will be 1.83 miles long and will

include a short pedestrian bridge east of Fry Road. The part west of Fry Rd. is planned to start construction this summer and the underpass and east of Fry Rd start this fall, Nady said.