LINNARTZ: New Braunfels actively working to add more public trails

Neal Linnartz is the mayor of New Braunfels.

It’s no secret that New Braunfels has a lot going for it — excellent food, shopping, music, and recreation that pulls people in from all over. However, there’s something missing: more ways to get around town, more ways to stay active, more ways to enjoy our remarkable community outside of a car.

Community feedback has told us that we need more trails. Great cities have been lauded for their walkable spaces and I, myself, enjoy visiting other communities where I can walk or ride a bike.

Trails add undeniable recreational, restorative, and economic value. Outdoor recreation is a huge industry and a strong economic driver. According to the Outdoor Industry Association, outdoor recreation is a $887 billion dollar industry, and it generates $59.2 billion in tax revenue for municipalities. The Comal County Conservation Alliance cites outdoor recreation as one of the top economic drivers in the county.

Trails are a critical element in getting people access to the great outdoors and have come to play an equally important role in mobility by providing routes to work, school, dining, shopping, and all the places people want to go. As more and more people turn to other methods of transportation to get around, a safe and strong network of pedestrian and bike corridors is becoming essential infrastructure. Imagine walking or riding a bike safely to downtown or to Gruene and not having to fight to find a parking spot. As roads become more congested, we turn to alternative transportation. It’s just easier to get around town if you don’t have to worry about parking and traffic.

Connected cities attract and retain businesses and employees, enjoy higher quality of life and higher property values, making trails an true engine for a better economy. New Braunfels has a strong commercial base, but to stay relevant, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we need to invest in mobility and connectivity. During our city’s recent strategic planning process, we heard loud and clear from the community how important trails are to our residents. Trails are enjoyed by people across generations, across means, and across abilities. They also bring a host of benefits such as recreation, wellness, transportation, business connection, and environmental protection by creating ecological corridors.

Just last month we cut the ribbon on the new Rim Trail inside Panther Canyon in Landa Park. Hundreds showed up to celebrate this accomplishment, made possible by the city’s partnership with the Comal Trails Alliance. We currently have about 26 miles of trails in town; half of those miles are on-street, intended for bikes and shared with vehicle traffic. The other half are dedicated to off-street hike and bike trails. Currently, most of what makes up those 26 miles of trails are short segments of less than a mile that are isolated and don’t currently provide connectivity between neighborhoods, parks, schools, and other destinations.

Providing trail corridors across a city like New Braunfels takes a lot of advance planning, working with landowners and coordinating public works projects. But New Braunfels has already started the process of thinking ahead. Here are some examples:

— The Alligator Creek Greenway Trail on the north side of town between I-35 and Goodwin Lane will add over a mile of trail and is scheduled to start in the spring of 2024 with completion in the fall of 2024.

— The Alligator Creek Greenway Trail east of I-35 is in the preliminary design phase to connect neighborhoods, schools, and shopping centers in the area of Creekside and FM 1101. This would add about 5 miles of trail. Once the design is complete, funding options will be examined, and a construction timeline will be set.

— Phase 1 of the Dry Comal Trail will connect the Wurstfest grounds and Landa Park to Town Creek with a one-mile trail. The design work will be done in 2024 and construction is expected to start in 2025.

— We have an active partnership with the Great Springs Project to develop a long-distance trail corridor to span San Antonio to Austin, coming right through New Braunfels.

We cannot let the momentum slow; in fact, we need a team effort to quickly identify more trail opportunities before the opportunity is lost, and we’re looking forward to working with landowners, small businesses, and partners like the Comal Trails Alliance and the Great Springs Project to bring more trails to New Braunfels.