May 16th 2022 | Posted in Infrastructure by Texas Government Insider

The Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) will spend $53 million connecting existing hiking, cycling, and running trails and building new ones using surplus revenues under a Tolls to Trailways plan.
bike trail Harris County toll authority working on 263 mile hiking, biking trail networkHCTRA’s plan envisions a network of 236 miles of trails, mostly adjacent to the county toll road system, accessible to runners, cyclists, and others. The network would be made up of longer “network spine” projects of 5 miles or more, smaller “Community Connectors,” and “Partnership Projects.”
The latter group of partnership projects already are part of another agency’s plans or may be more appropriate for another entity to lead. The total cost of all links could reach $600 million or more and take years to build.
Sixty-three possible projects have been identified. Some projects include:
  • The Hardy Trail with an estimated budget of $56,852.
  • Houston to Galveston Trail (Southeast Harris County Segment) with an estimated budget of $45,299.
  • Irvington Boulevard Bikeway with an estimated budget of $37,281.
Surplus HCTRA revenues also may be used for transportation, highway, or air quality projects.