The Westchase District board of directors is planning a complete rebuild of three heavily-traveled streets in the area: Woodland Park Drive, Hayes Road and Wallingford Drive (shown at left).

"We're excited about the possibility of rebuilding these three roadways," said John Estrada, senior projects manager. "All three north/south thoroughfares are heavily used by motorists, school buses, METRO buses and pedestrians. Yet they have urgent infrastructure challenges. The existing roadways are visibly deteriorated, with outdated designs that don't accommodate current traffic demands. They experience frequent ponding and localized flooding and fail to meet current city standards for storm events."

It is expected that the design phase of the project will take a year. Engineers will study current conditions on all three roadways, seek public input on the project and consider other improvements to the corridor -- including pedestrian lights, upgraded sidewalks, landscaping, public art and wayfinding signs. The recommended plan will meet all current design standards by the City of Houston.

"Our drainage study completed last year, revealed that any improvements made on these three roadways will benefit the east-west corridor of Meadowglen Lane," added Estrada. "The system will be engineered to alleviate capacity constraints in both the Meadowglen and Richmond storm sewer networks, contributing to broader regional flood resilience."

As required by law, staff has solicited Statements of Qualifications (SOQ) from engineering firms and will negotiate a contract with the chosen firm for primary design of the project. That contract will be considered by the Board of Directors at its December meeting.

Eight restaurants were recognized in Westchase District's recent "Best of Westchase" contest. The categories ranged from Best New Restaurant to Best Chain Dining, with specific categories for Mexican food, Persian food and even Best Coffee shop.

Some of the winners are long-time favorites in Westchase District, like Becks Prime and Jason's Deli. Others are local family-owned favorites like El Tiempo, Kasra Persian Grill and Saldivia's South American Grill. Some winners are newer representatives of the Westchase restaurant scene, including MOD Pizza, Blackrock Coffee Bar and Mad Dogs.

We hope there are familiar names among these winners and some restaurants you've never tried before. Stop by these Westchase favorites and congratulate them on being "best of" Westchase.

Westchase District's Camden Park was featured on KPRC-Channel 2's Houston Life show recently, highlighting all the amenties in the park as well as upcoming fall activities.

Westchase District's President & CEO Irma Sanchez offered a tour of the park to Houston Life reporter Lauren Kelly who said, "This space is magnificent." Kelly noted the playground's adjacent restrooms are "some of the nicest park restroom facilities I've ever seen."

"We took into consideration the experience of the mom or dad who brings their kids here," said Sanchez. "We don't want someone to arrive at the park and little Johnny has to go to the restroom five minutes later and they leave and don't come back. We want them to have that five star experience at Camden Park."

Kelly declared Camden Park "six stars out of five."

Sanchez and Kelly also shared information about the hundreds of free programs at the park offered year-round and the programming sponsors who make it all possible.

Santa Claus is getting ready for his annual trip to Sneed Dog Park's "Santa Paws" event on Saturday, November 22. Bring your four-legged friends to Sneed Dog Park, 9855 Pagewood Lane, for activities that will delight dogs and their human friends alike.

We'll have free dog photos with Santa, a dog caricature artist and giveaways from Petco. If your household is not complete, the Harris County Dog Adoption Bus will be onsite for you to pick out a new friend to go home with you.

Join us between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. All activities are free.

Sneed Dog Park is open weekdays from 4 p.m. until dusk and weekends from 7 a.m. until dusk.

Over the 30 year history of Westchase District’s public safety program, the District has been patrolled by deputies of the Harris County Precinct 5 Constables, officers from the Houston Police Department and officers from SEAL Security.

"As the District has grown, so has the public safety program," noted Westchase District's Vice President of Public Safety Mark Hubenak. "Today, we rely not only on manpower to keep the District safe, but we also use emerging technologies to assist our efforts."

This includes more than 30 Flock cameras, located throughout the District, plus high-tech Axis cameras at Woodchase Park, Camden Park and other high profile locations in the District.

Westchase District property managers and residents can also call a dedicated dispatch number - available 24/7 - for quick response from our on-duty patrol officers.

"Our public safety program has evolved so much over the years," said Westchase District President and CEO Irma Sanchez. "It's a real asset to the District because companies want to know that an area is proactive about public safety before they'll consider moving there. The fact that our crime statistics continue to fall year over year is a credit to Mark's leadership and the officers - both SEAL and HPD - who patrol the District every day. We never stop looking for ways to grow and evolve the program."