Sugar Land residents will better be able to navigate town on foot after the construction of three trails connecting the city.
How it happened
Working toward making Sugar Land a more walkable and bikeable place, the city of Sugar Land received a $19.36 million grant from the Houston-Galveston Area Council in December, which will provide funds to create three 10-foot-wide concrete trails throughout the city, said Melanie Beaman, Sugar Land transportation and mobility manager.
The details
The three trails will connect the city both north and south and east and west, Beaman said. The city does not anticipate starting any construction until July.
The trails funded by the grant include:
1. Sugar Land Trail Phase 1
- Status: design phase
- Location: along the west side of Ditch H from Imperial Park near Matlage Way, traveling under Hwy. 59 and connecting to Phase 2 near the Smart Financial Centre
- Cost: $9.09 million
- Status: not started
- Location: along the north side of Lexington Boulevard between the Smart Financial Centre and Austin Parkway
- Cost: $6.45 million
- Status: not started
- Location: connecting Cullinan Park to Gannoway Lake off Burney Road by creating a pedestrian path under Hwy. 6
- Cost: $3.82 million
Why it matters
The trails project is a part of the city’s larger Mobility Master Plan adopted in July 2023, which aims to keep the city safe and connected while being inclusive and promoting an active lifestyle, Beaman said.
“A lot of people just think about cars, but not everybody drives, so you have to give people other options to be equitable about transportation,” Beaman said. “[We are] working on providing alternatives to the personal automobile, which alleviates traffic congestion and helps the environment ... while getting people where they need to go.”
