Urban connector highlights city’s historic roots
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"8000","speed":"1000","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}

DETAILS

LocationHouston, Texas United States
ClientAECOM
SERVICE:
Size1,300 linear feet

This effort in Downtown Houston extends the Buffalo Bayou trail system eastward with the Smith to Travis Trail, connecting two historically significant sites: Sesquicentennial Park and Allen’s Landing, where the city was founded. It is a technically challenging segment located twenty feet below street level that traverses under multiple roadway bridges crossing the bayou. The 1,300-foot-long trail is supported by helical piles along its route, and over 580 linear feet was designed as a concrete deck with a structural steel support attaching to existing bridge columns and historical bridge abutments. The trail features the signature Buffalo Bayou light fixtures as a means of unifying the Buffalo Bayou trail system.

Related Projects

Guiyang Hot Springs

Guiyang Hot Springs, located in Guiyang City, China, brings together the rhythm of the Nanming River, and surrounding trails and trees to create a new urban ‘living room’ in the interstitial space created by new development and roadway infrastructure. Nestled into a mountainous site, the master planning addressed elevation changes of up to 100 meters and the e...

Mason Park Bridge

Mason Park, located at the confluence of two bayous, has served as an urban oasis since 1928. Despite a century of improvements to amenities, user access was significantly compromised by the wide expanse of Brays Bayou, which bisected the 104-acre green space into distinct northern and southern sections. Adjacent road and rail infrastructure further exacerbate...

Houston Green Loop

With the coming expansion and realignment of the highways around Downtown Houston, SWA identified the opportunity to enact a bold vision: a multi-use branded connectivity system that will leverage the immense reconstruction investment. SWA’s concept creates a continuous pedestrian loop over, under, and around the downtown highway system, thus redirecting the u...

Santa Monica North Beach Trail Improvements

While the beaches of Santa Monica are arguably one of the most iconic landscapes in Southern California, the trails running through them are less well known. Among those is the Marvin Braude Bike Trail, which runs from Mexico to Oregon and is commonly referred to as “The Strand” by locals. In recent years, The Strand bike trail had become congested and dangero...

Katy Trail

Katy Trail represents a remarkable resource for the residents of the Dallas Fort Worth region. This project enlivens and makes accessible right-of-way established by the storied, but later abandoned, Missouri-Kansas-Texas (better known as the “Katy”) line, and serves as a unifying element for the surrounding neighborhoods. Katy Trail provides appro...

Sanshan Hillside Park

The Pearl River Delta has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past four decades, evolving from farmland to a global manufacturing and technology powerhouse. Amid the frenetic pulse of this sprawling megalopolis of 86 million people, Sanshan Hillside Park stands as a mountaintop oasis.

Envisioned as New Town’s Central Park, the design embr...

Santa Monica North Beach Trail Improvements

While the beaches of Santa Monica are arguably one of the most iconic landscapes in Southern California, the trails running through them are less well known. Among those is the Marvin Braude Bike Trail, which runs from Mexico to Oregon and is commonly referred to as “The Strand” by locals. In recent years, The Strand bike trail had become congested and dangero...

Xili Lake Greenway

Encircling one of Shenzhen’s four major reservoirs, Xili Lake Greenway is the third segment of the 200-kilometer Kunpeng Trail to be completed under the city’s Mountain-Sea-City corridor initiative. Navigating over 16 kilometers of diverse terrain across upland, densely forested, and urban landscapes, the trail connects Xili Science and Education City, 18 tech...