WESLACO — Additional upgrades are coming to the Harlon Block Sports Complex, where $75,000 in improvements for the walking trail is underway.
WESLACO — Additional upgrades are coming to the Harlon Block Sports Complex, where $75,000 in improvements for the walking trail is underway.
Pete Garcia Jr., public utilities director for the City of Weslaco, confirmed this week that the trail at Harlon Block, located at 1020 W. 18th St., will be closed to the public for the next two weeks so crews can finish construction. Work on the trail includes leveling and the pouring of caliche, asphalt and striping along the entirety of its 1.2 mile length.
This is part of an ongoing effort, Garcia said, to upgrade city parks as well as encourage healthy living in the city by providing amenities that promote exercise.
At Harlon Block, Garcia said city officials hope the trail will specifically encourage walking and jogging, among other activities, just as the Mayor Pablo G. Peña City Park has done in the past.
It also helps that as many funds have been earmarked toward improving the complex’s facilities, not to mention the installation of new canopies, outdoor workout stations and general maintenance of all city parks. Parks Director David Arce has been credited for spearheading such work.
For Garcia, the trail improvements at Harlon Block mean more of the same.
“Right now, it’s looking nice because of everything the city has done,” Garcia said. “The trail at Harlon Block needed a big upgrade. We’ll even put some signs up trying to get people to walk the track clockwise, because they’re accustomed to walking it counter-clockwise.”
Construction on 6th Street, for instance, has received similar treatment with new bicycle signage that has been installed in the area extending toward Westgate. This, Garcia said, is an example of the city’s efforts to be comprehensive in its infrastructural and “quality of life” enhancements.
“These are big additions,” Garcia added. “Some of them may have connections to each other later, but right now one of the pluses at the (Harlon Block) park is that when it rains, the trail can still be used. Before, there would be puddles because of the gravel there before. Now it’s going to be paved.”
A newly-paved trail measure 10 feet wide is set to debut after Sept. 19, that is if inclement weather does not halt construction, Garcia said.
