TX: City Council says yes to bike plan that could cost billions

The city of San Antonio has adopted a plan to build a network of bike routes spanning 1,890 miles over the next quarter-century, largely within the existing street grid, at an estimated cost of $3 billion to $8 billion.

On Thursday, the City Council voted 10-0, with District 10 Councilman Mark Whyte abstaining, to adopt what the city calls its Bike Network Plan. The plan recommends that bike lanes be added to some of the city's busiest thoroughfares — ranging from McCullough Avenue to Military Drive to Vance Jackson Road — possibly at the cost of narrowing or eliminating vehicle lanes.

The plan also proposes that some street intersections be redesigned with cyclists in mind, and offers a set of policy changes — such as a reduction of default speed limits citywide — designed to make San Antonio more bike-friendly.

In voting to approve the plan, which city staff and outside consultants have been working on since 2022, the council did not commit to any specific policy changes or infrastructure projects. The plan will function as a guide for the city to follow on its journey to become a city where people can safely bike to school, buy groceries or visit a doctor.

Catherine Hernandez, director of the city's transportation department, described to the council how the city would likely add bike routes in a piecemeal fashion when opportunities become available, such as when other road infrastructure is being repaired.

Even cyclists admit that implementing the plan will be a long, uncertain and sometimes painful journey.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg — who was pictured in the 104-page plan happily riding his bike — expressed hope that "future iterations of this council" would remain committed to the plan.

"Whether you walk, whether you bike, whether you take public transportation or your own car, you should feel safe and you should have efficient, quality streets," Nirenberg said after the vote.

In explaining his abstention, Whyte said there was a lot that he liked about the plan but that he was concerned over its lack of detail, including for which roads would lose vehicle lanes. He also expressed concern about the plan's suggestion that certain taxes might be raised to pay for the new infrastructure.

"I worry about losing lanes on some of District 10's major thoroughfares, that it's going to add to traffic and things like that," he said. "So much of this is good... but a lot of it is a little too broad for me."

What's in the plan

The Bike Network Plan calls for 1,035 projects which would comprise 1,890 miles of bike routes — a distance equal to about two-thirds the length of the continental U.S. The routes could range from lanes and stand-alone paths to low-speed streets shared in their entirety by vehicles and cyclists, known as "bike boulevards."

If fully built, the network would enable more than half of local residents to cycle comfortably to a grocery store and more than two-thirds to a school, according to the plan.

The city has published an interactive map showing the roads that could be part of the bike network — including key thoroughfares such as Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Bulverde Road — but the plan offers few details as to what any of the routes would look like.

It's unclear which roads could lose vehicle lanes. But the plan does state that streets are sometimes "built with more lanes than needed" and that local corridors will be evaluated "to determine whether it is feasible to repurpose a vehicle travel lane."

The changes made to any given road would vary widely. The city would consider a variety of factors, such as the existing traffic load and speed limits, whether cyclists could ride safely when separated from traffic by only a painted stripe, or if some other divider is needed, such as a curb.

Each project will have to be approved and funded individually.

The plan recommends the city make other policy changes, such as allowing cyclists to ride on sidewalks and taking on the responsibility for maintaining sidewalks, which currently falls on adjoining property owners.

District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito said on Thursday that her team recently submitted a request for the council to consider reducing the default speed limit in San Antonio.

Difficulties ahead

San Antonio has a fraught relationship with cycling infrastructure. In 2013, the city repainted a 2.3-mile stretch of South Flores Street to replace one of the four vehicle lanes with a pair of bike lanes. A year later, after complaints from residents about snarled traffic, the council voted 10-1 to remove the bike lanes.

The South Flores bike lanes had sprung from the city's last master plan for a revamp of its cycling network, drafted in 2011. Cyclists have said the plan, which called for the construction of nearly 1,800 miles of bike routes across the city, went largely unfulfilled.

The only opposition voiced about the newest plan at Thursday's council meeting came from Jack M. Finger, a local activist who frequently protests council actions.

Another of the uncertainties surrounding the plan is how the city would pay for it.

The plan suggests that the network would mostly be funded by the federal government — $5.8 billion of the $8 billion maximum, according to a proposed cost breakdown — with the city supplying an estimated $540 million to $1.4 billion.

The administration of former President Joe Biden made significant amounts of funding available for bicycle and other non-vehicular transportation projects, including through its 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. But it's uncertain whether the Trump administration share that priority.

A project the council approved last month, to build a nearly mile-long bike route on Market and Commerce streets downtown, could serve as an example of how the city might use federal dollars. The route will be built with $15.8 million in federal funds distributed by the Texas Department of Transportation through its Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside program, which is funded in part by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Whyte alluded to the possible difficulties in securing the needed federal funding on Thursday, noting that "it's going to be extremely important that we have a good relationship with our federal government."

The plan lays out other possible sources of funding, including the state of Texas, Bexar County and city's five-year bond program.

District 8 City Councilman Manny Pelaez proposed an amendment on Thursday requiring that a bicycle advisory commission be created — something that the plan already recommended — to guide its implementation "rather than risk it collecting dust," he said.

His amendment passed 7-4, with District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran saying she would vote against it because she wanted to make sure Bexar County was involved in the process. She noted that the city has worked with the county to build many of its nature trails.

Support from cycling community

Dozens of cycling advocates came to the meeting in support of the plan.

Tina Beecham, a representative of the local chapter of the organization Black Girls Do Bike, said she has friends who have been injured biking in San Antonio.

She noted that the Bike Network Plan would work in conjunction with other recently adopted city initiatives, such as the Vision Zero plan to eliminate traffic fatalities and the Transit-Oriented Development zoning changes encouraging denser growth along transit routes, to "create a future where streets are safer, more equitable and accessible for all members of society."

Cyclists in San Antonio often complain about dangerous road conditions — on social media, they have compared the experience to the movie "Hunger Games." People for Bikes, a nonprofit that advocates for cycling improvements, ranks San Antonio 1,677th among U.S. cities for its bike infrastructure.

Alicia Spence-Schlesinger, general manager of San Antonio BCycle, the local rideshare system, praised the plan for its promise of providing residents an alternative to driving and an opportunity to reduce the local carbon footprint.

San Antonio's lack of cycling infrastructure made it difficult for Bcycle to grow a customer base after it was founded in 2011, she said. Last year, the company faced the "very real possibility" of shutting down, forcing it to close some of its stations.

But the city's river trails have acted as a "saving grace," allowing the company to attract enough business to return to profitability, she said.

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