A long-set city plan for a new greenway will turn a popular nature trail at McAllister Park into a paved path starting in 2027 — however, some local residents are still fighting for an alternative route.
While this new greenway project was approved by city officials in 2021, several members of the Friends of McAllister Park are still pushing years later to change the plan to preserve Mud Creek Loop so that it can be left in its natural state for hikers and bikers.
The Friends say they would instead like to see the pathway moved nearby so that it’s built under existing power lines in the park — a route they’ve dubbed the Pollinator Powerline Pathway. However, city staff say this alternative route is just not feasible.
For starters, it would run straight through several neighborhoods, including a neighborhood called Hunter’s Mill and a gated community called Ridgestone.
Residents of these neighborhoods support the city’s existing plan. Members of the Hunter’s Mill HOA board told the San Antonio Report they would be against changing the route.
“I’m 100,000% opposed to that,” said Lori Stenger, a Hunter’s Mill resident whose home backs up to where the pathway would cut through. “That would create a whole slew of problems.”
City staff says the Pollinator Powerline Pathway would also be unshaded and hot for residents — the area is clear of trees so they don’t interrupt the powerlines. It also crosses streets with existing traffic, and would require the city to possibly have to buy additional property to make it work, said Brandon Ross, special projects manager for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
“It’s also not interesting to ride a bike down a trail with no tree cover,” said former Councilman Clayton Perry, who proposed the project in 2018. “That was a main driver to actually put it in the creekbed — to enjoy the creekbed.”
Perry also supported the paved path through the park because it would make it more accessible for everyone, including those with limited mobility.
Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) said he’s had discussions with the city staff about the possibility of this alternative path, but now it doesn’t seem feasible.
But the Friends remain undeterred.
Laura Matthews, secretary of Friends of McAllister Park, and Fred Chase, a member of the nonprofit group, say that Ross has solved much tougher problems than the ones he faces to make the Pollinator Powerline Pathway a reality in his quest to make the Howard W. Peak Greenway Trails System happen.
The expanded McAllister Park trail project is supposed to eventually connect the park to a planned enhancement of the Howard W. Peak Greenway Trails System, a citywide network featuring 84 miles of hike-and-bike trails around San Antonio. Costs for the project would be covered by city and county funds.
The new greenway is set to feature 1.64 miles of ADA-accessible trails and to provide connections to the north along Mud Creek toward Thousand Oaks. In the future, it could also possibly link to another proposed trail expansion extending north from Bulverde Road past Loop 1604, Ross said.
The project could also later become a part of the 100-mile Great Springs Project that aims to connect San Antonio to Austin through the Hill Country. That project would be the first of its kind in the state, connecting the four major springs of Central Texas: San Antonio, Comal, San Marcos and Barton.
“Eventually, with time and money, it’ll go all the way up across [Loop] 1604 and try to catch these other developments that have no access to trails,” Perry said. Perry added that the organizers of the Great Springs Project expressed a lot of excitement about the Mud Creek Greenway project.
The city completed the design phase of the Mud Creek project for $300,000 in 2021, and has been in a holding pattern since then waiting for pre-allotted county funding to become available for construction to begin in 2027. The county is paying for the majority of the project — 97% of it — although it is being spearheaded by the city, a county spokesperson said.
The project will allow people with disabilities to have easier access to walk along Mud Creek, Ross and Perry both said. A public meeting held by the Parks Department in 2021 to collect feedback had about 70 residents come out, Ross recalled, at which about 15 voiced support. Only a handful voiced objection, he said.
Following this meeting, Friends of McAllister Park board member Fred Chase launched an online petition that to date has received 2,243 signatures to “Protect McAllister Park’s Remaining Natural Areas.”
A pathway to nowhere
Matthews, an avid cyclist, said one of her biggest concerns about the paving of the Mud Creek Path is it will create a “path to nowhere” while it awaits being joined to the city’s bigger projects.
“What I don’t want to see is this proposed Mud Creek Greenway connecting to Salado Trail just to stop at Thousand Oaks and serve absolutely no purpose for anything except to destroy one of the last natural areas in our park,” she said. “The Great Springs project is very far off in the future — probably 15 years off in the future.”
Matthews said she and Chase support overall greenway connectivity goals set by the city, but they also support the preservation of the park. The Pollinator Powerline can achieve both, she said. It would also be a shorter route, which could mean it costs less, and no tree clearance would be needed since it would go along the existing utility easements.
Matthews told the San Antonio Report she is hopeful the homeowners in Hunter’s Mill may change their minds if the city supports their alternate path idea, noting that attitudes towards greenspaces have continued to evolve within the community.
Whyte said he supports an alternative route being found as well, but the Friends’ suggestion wouldn’t be the right fit.
“I would like to keep Mud Creek natural but it doesn’t look like the Pollinator Powerline Pathway is going to be the answer,” Whyte said.
Correction: This article has been updated to correctly refer to a proposed route for the Pollinator Powerline Pathway.
