(Seguin) – Seguin is forever connected thanks to the completion of the final stretch of Walnut Springs Trail which now safely leads all types of foot and bike traffic into Max Starcke Park’s Pecan Bottom.
The city gathered Tuesday to officially open the last leg of the trail – a trail that now spans four miles across the city, one-way.
The trail extension consists of approximately .5 miles of 12-foot-wide concrete hike and bike trails along the west side of Walnut Branch Creek. The highlighted feature of the project is Seguin’s first below grade crossing under the South Austin Street bridge.
Celebrating the completion of this project is Seguin City Manager Steve Parker. Parker says the entire trail now stretches from New Braunfels Street and FM 78 south to Starcke Park.
“The Walnut Springs Trail provides pedestrian access to a number of locations including Park West, Seguin Police Department, Walnut Springs Park, the Seguin Public Library, Texas Lutheran University, the downtown area and Max Starcke Park including the Guadalupe River. That’s phenomenal in my opinion. This is something that we are always going to remember this day and where we were and I remember that groundbreaking because there were so many people, you could feel the energy of what they wanted in this community and so we are very very happy to deliver this project to you today. I loved the last two, three weeks of promotion of this and seeing all the comments on Facebook and social media about the energy and excitement of people wanting to see it,” said Parker.
Parker says the trail is officially a gamechanger in the city’s future.
“I became city manager about three and a half years ago and this was my first official ribbon cutting or groundbreaking when this project started and then here two and a half years later, we get to see it finished and it’s absolutely gorgeous. I’m so excited about this. This is one of those transformational projects. This is a multi-generational project that Seguin can be proud of. Since I became city manager, we’ve done ton of community outreach because the city of Seguin is growing so fast because we’ve done every type of study that we can do about how to grow, how to grow smart but the most important part of those studies is getting the citizens input of what they want in our community. It’s been a parks master plan. It’s been a comprehensive plan. It’s been a downtown plan. It’s been a comprehensive economic development study – all those things and all that community input said that we want quality of life. We want retail and commercial. We want things for our children to do and this is one of those projects that is going to deliver on those promises. So, I’m very very excited to see this come to fruition,” said Parker.
Not only is the trail an indicator of the future but it’s also some well-preserved memories of the city’s history. That’s according to Seguin City Councilman District 5 Paul Gaytan. Gaytan shared how the city was founded on the banks of Walnut Springs Creek in 1838. He also recalled memories about playing in this same creek space – memories that he knows others like him share.
In addition, he noted the nostalgic history behind an original creek trail in Seguin, a trail built in the 1930s by Architect Robert H. Hugman, the same man who designed the world-famous San Antonio River Walk. He says being able to preserve and incorporate some of the remnants of that original trail space into this extension project only adds to the unique and innovative design that families and visitors will come to love.
“Never during my lifetime have we’ve been able to safely walk down this tributary Walnut Creek into the Guadalupe River like we can now and it’s amazing that we have done this, and our history is amazing. Not only did we have a famous architect design this place in 1933, but he also designed Max Starcke Park and so in 1938, Max Starcke Park was built by the National Youth Administration, and it was only after these two projects that Hugman decided to go on over and build their little River Walk. I’m so proud of Seguin. We have such a wonderful history here and this is a very very special moment. I think that we are going to see significant development along this creek whether that is supported or not by you, but we are going to see it just like you see it on the River Walk and this place is going to transform over the next decades. So, congratulations Seguin, we deserve this,” said Gaytan.
Helping to partially fund the trail extension was the Texas Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). The agencies covered $2.2 million of the $5.18 million project.
Parking along the four-mile trail is encouraged at Park West, Walnut Springs Park, the Seguin Public Library and now the Max Starcke Park Pecan Bottom.
