Austin-to-San Antonio hike-and-bike trail will have a scenic run through Kyle featuring shops, restaurants
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The town of Kyle, Hays County, recently approved a multimillion-dollar trail that will cut the city in half and eventually be part of the 100-mile Great Springs Project trail that connects San Antonio to Austin.
But the trail, originally intended to be a natural trail for cyclists and hikers, has grown into an industrial and development hub that will fuel Kyle’s population growth – regardless of whether citizens are ready for it.
At the end of September, the city council gave its approval to the project called The Vybe Kyle. It’s a slate snake from the north end of town to the south. Some routes already exist within city parks. As part of the proposal, the city will build new pathways, many of them 12 foot concrete walkways, to accommodate golf carts.
The Vybe Kyle will include smaller “Vybes” along the trail route. City documents describe vybes as “commercial hubs … that offer a unique experience of shopping, dining, relaxation and fun”.
In the current plan there are seven vybes on the west side of the trail and 16 on the east side – with room for more.
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“The vybes are what we know from a development perspective,” said City Manager Scott Sellers during the council meeting at which the council approved the project. “The plan is a living, breathing document. However, there are still development areas that the city has been approached about because these areas still have green spaces for development. “
The Vybe Kyle will eventually join the Great Springs Project, a 100 mile network of trails connecting Austin and San Antonio as a kind of scenic highway for cyclists and pedestrians.
The Great Springs Project – funded by a combination of private and commercial donors, city and county taxpayers’ money, and federal government grants – is also designed to improve public access to green spaces in Texas. According to the project’s 2020 annual report, the project aims to secure an additional 50,000 hectares of land to protect the springs along the way.
“The booming development in this region – one of the fastest growing in the country – threatens to increase the pollution of this endangered water supply, to increase floods, to threaten the ecology and to restrict the access to nature for tourists and residents”, it says in the Report. “The Central Texas region needs to find a way to accommodate the influx of people without sacrificing the natural water resources that attract and sustain its people and their environment.”
The project is focused on four major springs: San Antonio Spring (also known as the Blue Hole), Comal Springs, San Marcos Springs, and Barton Springs.
Garry Merritt, the CEO of Great Springs Project, said Kyle and other communities across Hays County were geographically and environmentally critical to the project because of the area’s sources.
“The Great Springs Project Trail uses work that has already been done in addition to building new trails,” said Merritt.
Hays County has the Emerald Crown Trail, which was put together a few years ago in conjunction with the various towns and real estate developers in Hays County, Merritt said. There are plans to extend the route north from San Marcos to the County Line in Travis County and then south to the Hays County Line.
Cyclist James Stanfill, owner of Kyle Cyclery, will ride the Plum Creek Park Trail in Kyle on Monday.
Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express News
“It will all be connected,” he said.
The co-founder and chairman of the Great Springs Project is Deborah Morin, a conservationist and practicing yoga and meditation instructor whose husband, John Mackey, is the CEO and co-founder of Whole Foods Market.
Other board members include businesswoman Hope Andrade, a former Texas Secretary of State, former Chair of VIA Metropolitan Transit, and current Chair of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce
Merritt, the CEO, is a lawyer with expertise in commercial and real estate law as well as water law.
Ways and development
City guides view the Vybe Kyle Project as a way to capitalize on Kyle’s massive growth and drive even more over the next decade or so.
Kyle is located off Interstate 35 northeast of San Marcos and is the second largest city in Hays County. Census data shows Kyle grew from 6,153 residents in 2000 to 28,016 in 2010 to 45,697 in 2020. The city’s economic development team says it is able to outperform San Marcos in population. In the county seat, the Census Bureau counted 67,553 in 2020.
As “Kyle continues to grow at unprecedented rates, its citizens’ demand for quality of life has grown exponentially,” read a city memo of the project. “In particular, the demand for a robust network of trails has continued to rise, as the annual household survey report shows.”
But the “sturdy network of trails” that The Vybe Kyle will be made up of has drawn criticism from both city guides and citizens. They say the proposed concrete paving stones and commercial nodes dotting the length of the trail detract from the natural beauty of a true trail experience.
James Stanfill, an avid cyclist who owns a bicycle shop called Kyle Cyclery, said that “running the Great Springs Project Trail through Kyle would be a great addition to the community, with more outdoor space and something other than square Park”.
But Stanfill said it was a “ridiculous idea” to have various major developments along the way.
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“We spoke to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department about the trail system and I think they are a little understaffed and overwhelmed with growth and opportunity and don’t really know … what to do,” he said.
Councilor Yvonne Flores-Cale complains about the 12 foot wide concrete sections of the path, saying concrete is incompatible with the natural aspects of the path.
“I would like to use something more porous as this goes from the east to the west,” she said at a city council meeting. “And if you look at the map, there will be floods in some areas.”
City Manager Scott Sellers said a task force had already looked at materials other than concrete, but decided that concrete was the best option for pedestrians and cyclists on the way, as well as the cheapest option for maintenance – which is still expected in the city Cost $ 500,000 per year.
“Some of the porous patch material is not as desirable from a recreational standpoint as it gets caught on the soles of your feet when you run or walk,” Sellers said.
Councilor Dex Ellison was the only no-vote for the project, saying that the trail has become more of a “multipurpose trail” than a true nature trail.
Ellison admitted he was outnumbered but couldn’t support the plan as it is.
“I think there are ways for us to cement and codify more real trails in this plan that are natural and mostly unenhanced trails,” said Ellison, who has spent his time on trails. “I think that’s the excitement of a way of being a being in nature and not having a specific upgraded area.”
Next steps for the Vybe
But with the other five members of the six-member council on board, the development plan was officially passed, which gave The Vybe Kyle the first impetus to become a reality.
By voting, the council agreed to hire a six-person crew to start the 12-foot pavers. In 2020, Kyle residents approved a $ 2 million loan to build the trail, and the city has also applied for $ 2 million from Hays County.
A sign marks the Plum Creek Trailhead in Kyle on Monday.
Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express News
Merritt, the CEO of the Great Springs Project, said he had no problem with the specific sections of Kyle’s trail.
“Each of the parishes will build the paths that fit their topography and different projects,” he said. “It really depends on what the community wants … and then we’ll work to connect them all.”
The Great Springs Project is expected to be completed by 2036.
Annie Blanks writes for Express News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. annie.blanks@express-news.net
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