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The City of San Antonio is receiving $2 million from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for Woodlawn Lake Park on the city’s West Side.
The money will go directly towards the creation of a two-way bike path around the lake for both design and construction. A timeline was not available.
The funds are part of the department’s local parks grant program. During the last legislative session, about $60 million was allocated to TPWD for local parks in House Bill 500.
Woodlawn Lake is one of the city's most utilized parks and hosts the annual 4th of July fireworks show organized by the city and a Día de los Muertos fireworks display by Planet K.
Bike riding is currently prohibited around the main walking trails of Woodlawn Lake for safety. The desire for a dedicated bike path has been voiced by residents for more than 20 years having been listed in a 2002 Near Northwest Community Plan and the San Antonio Bike Plan in 2011.
A plan proposal was released in November 2024 to begin gathering public input on what a bike path around the lake would look like.
“With these dollars, we will finally, finally, finally have a complete bike path around Woodlawn Lake Park, which is so important because so many families ride their bikes around the park, and they'll finally have a safe place to do this,” District 7 City Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito said at Thursday’s City Council meeting.
Gavito thanked State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer for his help including San Antonio in the legislation for the funding. He told council members on Thursday that park funding like this is hard to come by.
“Local park grants given by the state are very competitive. We have 181 lawmakers. This allocation, this biennium, was only $60 million. Every member of the legislature wants a park grant in their district. Not everyone gets one,” he said.
The grant rounds out nearly $8 million in improvements for Woodlawn Lake.
That includes $3.2 million grant from the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership which is managed by the National Park Service and administered by Texas Parks and Wildlife.
There’s also $2 million in upgrades from the city’s 2022 bond package. The funding would go towards the addition of 400 trees, shade structures, and a splash pad.
