Issue: Bike and Hike trails

ISSUE

Eugene Novogrodsky, who lives on West Washington Street, wants to know whether there are any plans to turn abandoned railroad tracks around the city into bike and hike trails like the one that goes from the federal courthouse to the Palo Alto Battlefield.

These include the abandoned tracks that run behind Sams Stadium, as well as the tracks that soon will be abandoned that run from the B&M Bridge in a western loop.

WHO TO CALL:

City of Brownsville, 548-6000

WHAT THEY SAID

Mark Lund, metropolitan planning officer for the cities of Brownsville, Los Fresnos and Rancho Viejo, said that right of way and construction costs for the bike and hike trail from the federal courthouse to the Palo Alto Battlefield were covered through a grant from the Scenic Transportation Enhancement Program.

“The STEP program doesn’t exist in Texas any more,” Lund said, adding that it is up to the mayor and City Commission to decide whether to build any more such trails.

Mayor Pat Ahumada said building any new trails is a matter of money.

“Right now we need to focus on maintaining and beautifying what we have,” Ahumada said.

“It all has to do with budget,” the mayor said. “First we want to focus on the nine miles of trails we’ve got.”