|
Only have a minute? Listen instead
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
HARLINGEN — Amid some Parkwood homeowners’ opposition, city officials are planning alternative routes aimed at extending the Arroyo Hike and Bike Trail across its most remote, woody stretch.
For more than a year, the homeowners have been standing up against a city proposal to extend the trail’s third phase from McKelvey Park to the Hugh Ramsey Nature Park area, a 1.1-mile span they argue would run the 6-foot asphalt trail across parts of 22 residents’ backyards along the arroyo.
Launched last year, a $216,632 engineering study aimed at determining the span’s route continues.
“Phase 3 is still under design,” City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez said Tuesday. “We’re still working on some of the issues.”
Officials have not determined whether the project would cut into private property, he said.
The project’s third phase was proposed as the trail’s most scenic span, a 1.1-mile stretch from McKelvey Park to Hugh Ramsey Nature Park, a World Birding Center site.
“There may be one of two options,” Gonzalez said. “There are a lot of possibilities to get from McKelvey to Hugh Ramsey. Right now we’re trying to figure out which one is the least expensive.”
So far, officials haven’t estimated the project’s costs, Ana Hernandez, the city’s special projects director, said.
“That’s one of the outcomes of the planning effort,” she said.
Meanwhile, officials are applying to the Federal Highway Administration for a $13.1 million grant under the agency’s Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program to fund a proposed $11.5 million project that would extend the trail from Hugh Ramsey to FM 509, Hernandez, who oversees the city’s grant writing program, said.
“This is the first time the grant is being offered but we anticipate it’ll be extremely competitive,” she said. “The project includes planning, design and construction of a multi-use trail, shared-use paths, bike-pedestrian intersection improvements and trail-supported amenities.”
Since last year, Commissioner Michael Mezmar has stood strongly opposed to a project that would extend the trail across Parkwood residents’ backyards, arguing he’s “vehemently” against imposing the law of eminent domain to acquire private property along the span’s path.
During City Hall meetings, Parkwood homeowner Tony Rodriguez has spoken out before commissioners, warning he would take legal action to try to stop the project he argued would encroach on parts of 22 residents’ backyards.
He claims the project would expose them to the threat of burglaries while destroying pristine natural habitat where he claims he’s documented an ocelot sighting.
For years, residents have been making the Arroyo Hike and Bike Trail one of the city’s most popular attractions.
Now, officials are planning to promote the city’s trail system as an outdoor destination.
In 2000, the city opened the Hike and Bike Trail’s first stretch, running 2.1 miles across winding banks, crossing three bridges, from McKelvey Park to Arroyo Park.
Last year, the project’s second phase extended the trail 1.6 miles, crossing three bridges on its way to Dixieland Park.
Now, the project’s third span is proposed to wind across the trail’s most remote areas, running along the arroyo’s narrower, woodier banks to Hugh Ramsey Nature Park, a site of the World Birding Center, which draws hundreds of eco-tourists every year.
Officials haven’t set the project’s timetable.
The project’s overall goal is to link the city’s parks while also connecting neighborhoods, schools and business areas.
As part of the master plan, officials envision a network of trails connecting the city’s parks and retail centers, linking Texas State Technical College to bicycle lanes while giving birders and nature buffs scenic sites along parts of the World Birding Center at Hugh Ramsey Nature Park.
