Marjesca Brown, a Mud Creek Loop advocate, is fighting to keep the City of San Antonio from putting a concrete path through the area in McAllister Park.
Brown, a San Antonio resident, who lives near McAllister Park, believes in the benefits of the greenways but also in the importance of urban wild spaces.
“I support the greenway project, safe sustainable connectivity, is so important for so many people in our community. I also believe that a quiet urban wildland is important as well.” Brown said. “A hundred acres of urban wilderness centrally located in San Antonio is a really important thing to protect as it is. And not just to protect but also take care of and restore.”
The City of San Antonio plans to expand the Howard W. Peak Greenway Trails System’s Salado Creek Greenway from where it ends in McAllister Park, near the Dog Park, to Thousand Oaks Drive. Part of the route will go through the Mud Creek Loop area and along the current Mud Creek Loop Trail route.
San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department said, “According to the most recent draft of the trail alignment, it would overlap the Mud Creek Loop Trail by approximately 2500 feet. Parks & Recreation staff will work with Friends of McAllister Park and South Texas Off-Road Mountain Bikers on options for re-building/re-connecting the Mud Creek Loop trail parallel to the greenway trail.”
Brown wants the city to look at other alternatives like the powerline easement going from McAllister Park to Thousand Oaks Dr.
“This is an alternative route where the greenway could develop through. It is a very neighborhood friendly route. It goes through two HOAs and I’ve looked at the map and there’s four points of direct access if they were to put the greenway along the power line in this neighborhood route,” said Brown.
The city considered the route when developing plans for the extension.
San Antonio Parks and Recreation said, “We originally considered the possibility of routing the trail along a CPS easement that goes through the adjacent neighborhood but have ruled it out as an option for several reasons which will be discussed at the public meeting.”
The public meeting to discuss the Salado Creek Greenway extension is Monday, October 4, 6:30pm at the Toolyard, 4500 Wurzbach Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78284.
Residents can also sign a petition created for those who want to see the Mud Creek Loop area preserved as a piece of urban wildland.
If San Antonians want to keep Mud Creek Loop wild, they can let the city know by signing the petition or showing up at the public meeting to discuss the project.