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Harris County Flood Control District begins removal of mountain bike structures along local trails

Community-created mountain bike structures are in the process of being removed along Cypresswood and Cypress Creek trails to make way for flood mitigation projects, Harris County officials confirmed.

What's happening: Staff from the Harris County Flood Control District began removing the mountain bike features in late April and will continue to do so over the next two months, said Emily Woodell, HCFCD chief external affairs officer.

Woodell said residents built the structures along the two trails—both of which are HCFCD property—without authorization or proper permitting from the county. She said the flood control district welcomes “passive use” of the trails such as walking and cycling, but the unauthorized structures raised safety and liability concerns for county leaders.

Another viewpoint: For some local mountain bikers, losing access to the features means losing the opportunity to practice their sport, said Ben Drews, president of the Greater Houston Off-Road Biking Association. He said the structures are designed to help off-road bikers gradually progress at skills such as jumping and high-speed turns and build their confidence.

 
In Your Community
Hope Center Houston marks a decade serving homeless individuals in North Houston

Hope Center Houston told Community Impact the organization is celebrating its 10 year anniversary during a luncheon on May 15. With the mission to help homeless individuals, the faith based organization offers several services for those in need.

The details: The luncheon held on May 15 at 11 a.m. at St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church will include guest speakers Kelly Young, CEO of the Coalition for the Homeless, and Joel North, CEO of HCA Houston Northwest Hospital, officials said. Anyone interested in attending the luncheon and supporting Hope Center Houston can purchase tickets online.

The impact: Per the website, Hope Center Houston is a faith-based agency offering a day center, emergency shelter, and transitional housing for individuals experiencing homelessness in northwest Houston. Hope Center Houston has been successful in getting more than 200 individuals into apartments over the last four years, officials said.
 

Your Weekend To-Do List

Check out these weekend events across the metro area.

Panda Fest

Passport to Play

May 8-10, times vary
Houston

May 9, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sugar Land

Learn more.

Learn more.

 

Mother’s Day Market

Jazz Night

May 9, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Houston

May 9, 6-10 p.m.
League City

Learn more.

Learn more.

 
To submit your own event, click here.

Latest Education News
51K low-income students to receive Texas Education Freedom Account funding

More than 53,000 students will be invited to join Texas’ education savings account program this week, the state comptroller’s office said May 4.

The details: Families will be notified by email between May 4-6 if they were awarded funds in the second round of the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program, per a news release from the comptroller’s office.

To date, nearly 96,000 students have been selected to participate, with these students set to receive about $820 million of the $1 billion state lawmakers allocated for the program, an agency spokesperson said. Of the 53,000 second-round awardees, over 51,000 are from low-income families. The other 2,000 students accepted this week were found to qualify for disability-related funding, the agency said.

The background: Families accepted to the TEFA program will receive state funds to send their children to private schools or homeschool them for the 2026-27 school year.

Proponents of the new program have said it will expand educational opportunities, while critics have expressed concerns that the program will unfairly benefit students already enrolled in private schools.

 

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