The city of Brownsville’s Sidewalk and Trails Master Plan 2021 has earned it a Gold Award in the Transportation Planning Category from the Texas chapter of the American Planning Association.
The Gold Award recognizes communities’ efforts to make more transportation choices available across populations, cut down on automobile transportation and street congestion, and try to reduce the effects of climate change. The city accepted the award at the Texas chapter’s annual conference last week in El Paso.
Brownsville City Commissioner Rose Gowen said the 10-year master plan is all about improving trails and sidewalks in the city, and that creating a more biking- and walking-friendly Brownsville, with trails connecting to transit routes, is essential to making the city’s transportation options “equitable and accessible to all.”
“Walking and biking trails make short trips, getting to school and more frequent and safer,” she said. “They also make it possible for seniors and handicapped family and friends to move about the city and age in place without having to stay at home or rely on others.”
Gowen noted that walkable, bikeable communities tend to be economically thriving places “where people want to live, businesses want to locate, and tourists want to visit.”
The master plan was the product of deep analysis of data and, for the first time in Brownsville’s history, puts forth a strategy to improve the city’s sidewalks. It will serve as the foundation for the city’s decisions on enhancing its trail system and applying for further state and federal funding.
According to Halff Associates Inc., which designed the plan, it “achieves Brownsville’s objectives of increasing safety through the connectivity of pedestrian facilities infrastructure” and addresses the need for better and more accessible transportation.
“Projects within the plan have either been completed or are in construction,” said the company. “New additions included 4.3 miles of sidewalks, 11.1 miles of off-street recreational trails, 792 linear feet of multi-use paths and five pedestrian refuges.”
Jackson Marvel, Halff’s deputy project manager, called sidewalks, trails and bike lanes “the building blocks of an attractive and community-driven place.”
Joel Garza, the city’s Multi-modal Transportation director, said it’s an honor to receive the award be recognized by APA.
“When we developed the master plan we weren’t doing it for any awards but for the people of the city,” he said. “We really wanted to give the people of the community and those who visit a safe, convenient and healthier means of transportation.”
APA’s Texas chapter recognizes outstanding planning and leadership efforts across the state. The Gold Award is the highest award the organization bestows, and nominees are chosen for it based on “high originality and innovation, engagement, implementation and effectiveness, and promotion of planning,” according to APA. Award winners are announced each October, which is National Community Planning Month.
