St. George Place Redevelopment Authority Bering Ditch Sidewalk

The St. George Place neighborhood is a densely populated and commercially vibrant part of Southwest Houston. Many people live, work, shop, and attend school in this area, especially in the neighborhood surrounding the Pilgrim Academy, located between Hillcroft Avenue and Fountain View Drive, south of Richmond Avenue. Multiple multifamily homes, businesses, schools, and other activities generate heavy foot, bike, and vehicular traffic. Since there was no viable north-south street alternative, people accessed the grassy area along the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) Ditch W-142, known as Bering Ditch.

To help encourage safe pedestrian access and economic development, the St. George Place Redevelopment Authority (TIRZ 1) proposed a plan to build a sidewalk over the well-worn paths. TGC led project development, engineering design, and construction administration as well as intergovernmental coordination. TGC led strategic negotiations for a hike-and-bike trail agreement with HCFCD to keep the sidewalk within the existing right-of-way.

Phase I included the successful design and construction of a 8 ft. wide sidewalk along the east side of Bering Ditch from Beverly Hill Street to Windswept Lane, a total length of approximately 1,600 feet, including a mid-block crossing. Since this crossing was not located at a street intersection, TGC coordinated the proposed improvements with the City of Houston Planning & Development and Public Works departments to ensure compliance with recently published Infrastructure Design Manual requirements.

Due to site conditions, TGC designed a special three-way curb ramp structure to join the proposed sidewalk and mid-block crossing with existing sidewalks. Due to right-of-way constraints where the streets cross Bering Ditch, TGC adapted the design to taper the sidewalk and related improvements to avoid impacting private properties. Other challenges TGC addressed during design and construction included:

• Removal of several trees that had grown in the ditch right-of-way,

• Preservation of a heritage oak tree on adjacent private property, and

• Adjustment of an underground utility structure located on the alignment of the sidewalk.

Pleased with the completed project, TIRZ 1 turned to TGC for an extension of the sidewalk from Windswept Lane to Westpark Drive.

Phase II provided safe and crucial off-street connections for hundreds of people traveling on foot/bike daily between homes, businesses, and schools within the neighborhood. Project highlights included:

• Providing bespoke planning and design services for essential pedestrian infrastructure,

• Designing 850-ft of multi-use sidewalks with mid-block crossings and 70-ft connection to existing sidewalks, and

• Securing partnership funding for construction from Harris County Precinct 4 and City of Houston Council District J.

Read on for a news release originally published by Hawes Hill and Associates LLP.

Leaders Celebrate Completion of Key Sidewalk Project in Southwest Houston

Dec. 13, 2023

HOUSTON, TX — St. George Place Redevelopment Authority/Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 1 (TIRZ 1), Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones, Houston City Council Member Edward Pollard, and community partners celebrated on Wednesday the completion of a sidewalk project crucial to hike-and-bike mobility in a dense portion of southwest Houston.

The project blazed a north-south walkway along the Bering Ditch in a patch of southwest Houston known for a compact collection of public schools, apartment complexes, workplaces and shops.

A pre-COVID survey indicated that about 2,000 people used the pathway every weekday before the sidewalk was built. Now they no longer have to travel over mud, holes, patches choked with weeds and other hazards.

TIRZ 1 developed the project, which was funded with its tax increment dollars as well as money from Briones' and Pollard's offices.

“TIRZ 1 handled development of the project, but the follow-through shows what can be done when local government agencies work together for the public good,” said TIRZ Chairman Frank Donnelly III.

“As a mother and former teacher, I am grateful that the newly completed sidewalks along the Bering Ditch will serve as a safe pathway for the many children who use it to get to school,” Briones said. “The residents of this area have long-awaited serious upgrades that will improve their safety and quality of life. Harris County Precinct 4’s new partnership with the City of Houston in TIRZ 1 in St. George Place will ensure more of the community’s hard-earned tax dollars are reinvested into economic development and infrastructure projects that directly serve the neighborhood.”

The need for the sidewalk project was not fully recognized "until the TIRZ stood up and saw it as an issue and made it a priority,” Pollard said.

He ensured that speed bumps were placed on Beverly Hill and Skyline streets, parts of which pass over the ditch project.

“This area is starting to have a facelift,” he said of the southwest neighborhoods that include Wisdom High School, Pilgrim Academy, businesses and a cluster of apartment complexes. “It starts with the community advocating” for positive change.

For more information, contact Alan Bernstein, Director of Public Affairs and Communications, Hawes Hill and Associates LLP, abernstein@haweshill.com, (713) 503-9421.