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San Antonio’s walk and bikeways continue to grow, and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department wants to hear what residents like and what they don't.
“It's a survey basically to take the opinions and points of view of our trail users and other people around San Antonio. It's open to anyone, including people who don't use the trails,” said Brandon Ross, special projects manager with the city. “Anybody who lives in San Antonio who wants to participate is definitely encouraged to participate. It's a short survey. It contains 24 questions. It's available at SAspeakup.com. You just have to click on the surveys tab.”
The trail system runs by most of the area's streams and rivers. It has been built and expanded over the last 20 years, and the network's origins can be traced back to a former city councilman and mayor.
“Howard Peak and his associates, the fellow council members back in the late '90s, just kind of developed this idea of making the creeks into recreational areas where people could enjoy the outdoors,” Ross explained. “And so we've preserved over 1,750 acres of property along the creeks, in addition to the parkland that we go through already.”
Most of the areas that have been turned into greenways are within flood zones, and they have been transformed into walking and biking trails, with minimal structures.
“We have 102.5 miles of developed Greenway trails along the creeks in San Antonio. Most of them are along Salado Creek, Leon Creek and Medina River. But there's a lot of tributaries that we've now developed that connect into that bigger system, and we have the ultimate goal, of course, of closing all the gaps in the circle and continuing to build out the tributary trails,” Ross added.
Many of the greenways’ trailheads are near freeways and busy areas, but within a couple of hundred yards hikers can see deer, fox, armadillos and other animals.
“It's really great because you can get out in the woods, and you can get away from the highways and the traffic and the development, and just really enjoy being in the outdoors,” Ross said.
