'It provides connectivity': Could an abandoned underpass near downtown Houston see a new life?

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It's hard to see these days, but did you know there's an abandoned underpass located on the edge of downtown Houston?

"Right behind us is the St. Charles Street/Preston Street underpass," Ricky Cardenas explained to ABC13.

That underpass, which is situated beneath railroad tracks, has been rendered largely invisible due to overgrowth and illegal dumping.

Cardenas, who works at the East End District and is on the board of pro-trail organization A Tale of Two Bridges, said plans are in motion to explore reopening the point that connects St. Charles Street in Second Ward to Preston Street in East Downtown.

"What we're looking to do is open this for pedestrian and bike access," he explained.

Cardenas said the underpass was filled in in the early 1990s, and he believes reopening it would establish a much-needed connection between Second Ward and East Downtown.

"It's just one of those things that provides connectivity," he explained.

He said the East End District plans to apply for federal funding in hopes of having a feasibility study done on the structure.

"We do not have a timeline yet," Cardenas said when asked how long conducting the study might take.

Cardenas said they also hope to put a small park around the openings of the underpass as part of their proposal.

"It'd be something that people would want to visit," he said. "It would also be sort of a natural deterrent for illegal dumping."

Cardenas told ABC13 that this project would ultimately require collaboration with the landowner in order to come to fruition.

He told Eyewitness News he was under the impression that it would be the City of Houston, but a spokesperson with the mayor's office told ABC13 later on Tuesday that it isn't their property.

ABC13 is working to learn who actually owns the land containing the underpass.

Additionally, Eyewitness News asked an unaffiliated engineering professor at Rice University if such a project is feasible from a structural engineering standpoint.

"Abandoned tunnels have been successfully transformed into popular walking and cycling routes," wrote Dr. Kalil Erazo in a statement.

He went on to discuss what a feasibility study might entail in this instance.

"Engineers would need to determine when the tunnel and the overlying railway were built, whether the railway has changed since the tunnel was constructed, and whether the original structural drawings are available to confirm how the underpass was designed and what loads it was intended to withstand," he wrote.

He also said Houston's propensity for flooding could "ultimately make the tunnel unsuitable for public use."