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Five months after Hurricane Harvey inundated Houston's beloved Buffalo Bayou Park, cleanup is nearing completion. The sediment that covered the park from tip to toe is nearly gone. Over 30,000 cubic yards of sediment have been collected and hauled off by crews at Millis Construction, Sprint Sand & Clay and over 1,000 volunteers. Within the next month, the remaining sediment built up at Allen's Landing will be removed as the park prepares for this year's Buffalo Bayou Partnership Regatta on March 10.
Reopening Johnny Steele Dog Park will take more time. Working with SWA, Buffalo Bayou Park's designers are developing plans to remove the large dog pond within the park to reduce the frequency of its flooding. A decision about the small dog pond has not been made. The goal is to have the improvements complete and the dog park reopened by late spring.
Though the sediment will soon be gone, many of Buffalo Bayou's trails suffered severe erosion and will need to be repaired. The Buffalo Bayou Partnership plans to hire outside contractors to repair several trail sections. Harris County Flood Control District is designing plans for major repairs near Rosemont Bridge, Wortham Fountain and Beth Yeshurun Cemetery. Buffalo Bayou Park is still assessing damage to trails near Downtown. For the time being, the northside trail between Sesquicentennial Park and the University of Houston-Downtown will remain closed due to severe erosion at the pedestrian footbridge.
Hydrologists have been studying erosion along the bayou's east sector and aim to have the work completed in time for a series of public meetings in the East End and Fifth Ward in February. The park is still working with TxDOT and CenterPoint to break ground on new trail segments east of Downtown.
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