HOUSTON — One of the massive land bridges at Memorial Park is just about completed. Officials say the tunnels will be opened to eastbound traffic starting around 11 a.m. on Monday.
It’s a new alignment for Memorial Drive and ultimately, it’ll have one tunnel below each of the hills. It’s a major milestone in a much larger project.
The Land Bridge and Prairie project is meant to connect the north and south sides of the park.
“The obvious part is the safe crossings for people and animals, but it’s much, much more than that," said Memorial Park Conservancy President and CEO Shellye Arnold. "It’s also with the plantings that we’re doing and the restoration of the ecology, we’re bringing the ecology back to its native state, its native and healthy resilient state, which is as a native Gulf Coast prairie, which absorbs relatively more stormwater and absorbs relatively more carbon.”
RELATED: HIDDEN GEM: Memorial Park history
The entire project will create 100-acres of green space area. Arnold says those 35-foot-hills will have some pretty amazing views of downtown and uptown.
The westbound tunnels are expected to open next month and the entire Land Bridge and Prairie project should be finished by the end of this year.
Watch drone video of the Memorial Park tunnels below: