San Marcos River Shared Use Pathway Project Underway
On Monday, Feb. 17 residents and park patrons will begin to see construction on a new ADA-compliant bicycle and pedestrian concrete trail in and around the areas of Children’s Park, Rio Vista Park and Ramon Lucio Park.
The trail will be a 1.7-mile long, 10-foot wide pathway that will tie into an existing trail east of the Hopkins Street bridge. It will end approximately 205 feet west of the IH-35 southbound access road.
Once completed, it will provide connectivity between the City’s Visitor Center, multiple parks, downtown and Texas State University.
The project will feature enhanced safety measures including below-grade crossings at Cheatham Street and the railroad right-of-way at Rio Vista Park, as well as lights along the trail corridor.
“Although this is a TxDOT project, City staff have been involved with preconstruction planning to ensure that mitigation measures are implemented to protect the San Marcos River and sensitive sites around the project area,” said Drew Wells, Director of Parks and Recreation. “We’re excited that construction is moving forward on this much needed shared pathway that will provide a safe and sustainable connection for our parks system.”
San Marcos River Bike & Ped Trail•
The project, known as the San Marcos River Shared Use Pathway Project, was approved by the San Marcos City Council and submitted to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in May of 2017.
The program provides funding to construct a variety of alternative transportation projects that improve mobility for non-motorized users.
The project will be constructed by a TxDOT contractor for an amount not to exceed $1,519,610. The City of San Marcos was responsible for providing $500,000 toward the project.
Tree protection is also being implemented throughout the project with TxDOT pruning overgrown trees to provide clearance for equipment and to prevent tree damage during construction.
Protective fencing and trunk and root zone protection measures will also be utilized by the contractor.
If it becomes necessary to remove a tree within the project area, mitigation measures will be followed and another tree will be planted as a replacement.
Project completion is anticipated in early summer 2020, weather permitting.
Wait a minute….
“Tree protection is also being implemented throughout the project [by] pruning overgrown trees to provide clearance for equipment and to prevent tree damage during construction.”
So to protect those beautiful trees, the trees are being cut down. How productive!
More importantly, your story dismisses how the City under pretext of helping disabled persons, is now making this trail “bicycle friendly”. In short, move sixteen inches to your left while walking this path and you are now hit from behind by a bicycle and rider which if travelling only ten miles an hour, is exerting the kinetic energy of about twelve-hundred pounds, as equals the energy of that object in motion. KE = ½mv².
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Understood, Mr. Wells, how the terms for staying alive imposed on residents of the City’s animal shelter are rather harsh. Thus I won’t be shocked at learning how you and city manager Bert Lumbreras next put someone into a wheelchair for life caused by imposing this deadly “bicycle friendly” kindness upon a pedestrian travelling this, your NEW path to greater enjoyment of life. I manage to walk fairly well with a spine completely fused except for one joint at the base of my skull. Yet for want of eyes in the back of my head, I now understand how my days on earth dramatically decline with each new development you bring to our community.
Sincerely,
Jim Reece
Your story says —–If it becomes necessary to remove a tree within the project area, mitigation measures will be followed and another tree will be planted as a replacement.
DONT BE REMOVING OUR TREES FOR YOUR PATH. OUR PATH WORKS JUST FINE, TREES AND ALL