MKT Bridge reopens in The Heights after yearlong repairs
The MKT bridge is open again in The Heights, restoring a key link over White Oak Bayou after more than a year of repairs and detours.
The MKT Bridge in The Heights is open again, restoring a critical crossing for people walking, biking and running the Heights Hike and Bike Trail over White Oak Bayou near Studewood Street. After more than a year of closure, the reopened span gives residents back a continuous route that connects homes, parks, businesses and trail access across one of Houston’s busiest inner-loop corridors.
City leaders said the bridge reopened this week after long-running repairs. Houston City Councilmember Mario Castillo called the reopening “this vital connection,” a phrase that reflects how central the bridge is to daily movement in the neighborhood. For Heights residents who use the trail to commute without a car or simply move between parts of the community on foot or by bike, the change restores a piece of ordinary mobility that had been missing since the closure.
The City of Houston said the MKT Hogan Street Bridge had been closed because of severe structural damage that raised safety concerns. Construction and rehabilitation of the MKT Trail pedestrian bridge at White Oak Bayou began on Monday, September 22, 2025, after the span was damaged when construction equipment from a Texas Department of Transportation project broke loose during a winter storm. ABC13 reported the repairs were budgeted at about $1.1 million.
The closure had left a key stretch of the White Oak Bayou Hike and Bike Trail blocked off, and by February 2025 there was still no repair timeline. With the bridge back in service, cyclists, walkers, runners and families can again cross the bayou at a point that sits in the middle of a dense, heavily used part of The Heights. That matters not just for recreation, but for the small, everyday trips that trail users make to reach nearby destinations without getting in a car.
The reopening also comes as the larger I-10 and White Oak Bayou project continues around it. TxDOT describes that effort as a $400 million to $407 million project to elevate I-10 mainlanes between Heights Boulevard and I-45, reduce flood risk tied to White Oak Bayou and reconstruct the Houston Avenue Bridge. The agency also says the project includes a two-mile, 10-foot-wide shared-use path along the south side of White Oak Bayou, while the White Oak Bayou Greenway trail between Houston Avenue and the Castillo Community Center is expected to remain closed through 2028 with intermittent reopenings possible. For now, the MKT bridge’s return marks a rare, immediate win for a neighborhood still living through years of construction.
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