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From a morning run to an evening stroll, or alternate modes of transportation, the city of Pearland has made strides to make walkability and access to trails more convenient for residents, city officials said.
The framework
As of February 2024, Pearland has over 615 miles of sidewalks across the city, as previously reported by Community Impact.
As a result of those efforts, projects for trail systems, such as the Shadow Creek connector trail to Clear Creek, are underway, city officials said.
This project entails a 21-mile Clear Creek trail, with 8 miles currently built. Paved trails also exist across Pearland, including Shadow Creek Ranch and Green Tee Terrace.
Carry Capers, director of Pearland’s Parks and Recreation Department, said the city focuses on trail and sidewalk connectivity “for a couple of different reasons.”
“One is health and wellness,” Capers said. “But then also making sure that we have great connections to all of our schools, to our retail centers, to where ... you can use a different form of transportation.”
The funding source
In 2023, Pearland voters approved a roughly $181 million bond package—including more than $26 million for streets, bridges and sidewalks, which included over $15 million for sidewalk gap infill and replacements.
Another portion of the bond allocated $33 million for parks and recreational improvements that include trail and sidewalk connections, according to city documents.
Since the bond’s approval, officials have addressed sidewalk hazards and are now focusing on filling gaps near schools, trails and shopping centers, Pearland’s Public Works Director Lorenzo Wingate said. Large trail projects, such as the Clear Creek trail, rely heavily on outside funding, Wingate said.
Outside funding can consist of grants the city applies for, partnership funds with the state and counties, such as Harris County, and congressional dollars, Wingate said.
“There’s always a funding challenge,” Wingate said. “Sometimes we have to dedicate some funds to sidewalks, sometimes that goes to streets ... and we let [City] Council ... help us determine what direction we go in whenever we make those decisions.”
Rapid suburban growth can make walking between homes, shops and services difficult, but revitalized town centers and historic downtowns can help, said Mandi Chapa, a lecturer at the Rice University School of Architecture.
Pearland’s Old Town revitalization plan, adopted in September, will add nearly 8 miles of sidewalks and shared-use paths, Community Impact previously reported.
“Fast growth can leave cities disconnected, mostly because developments are coming up in different parts of the city, and that rapid growth oftentimes doesn’t allow cities to ... think through different transportation networks,” Chapa said.
Zooming out
In Friendswood, city officials call the city “somewhat walkable,” with neighborhood and downtown access, but it is largely car-centric, Friendswood Communications Director Glenda Faulkner said.
Friendswood residents often request new sidewalks along FM roads, plus more trails and pedestrian bridges to improve connections across Clear Creek, Faulkner said.
Construction at the Friendswood City Center, which broke ground in April 2024, is underway on sidewalks, trails and public spaces, Faulkner said.
In Manvel, walkability is “less than ideal,” Manvel Mayor Dan Davis said.
While roughly 120 miles of sidewalks and trails exist, Davis noted gaps exist between older neighborhoods and new developments.
Manvel officials plan to add more gravel and multi-use trails along Chocolate and Mustang bayous.
Looking ahead
Pearland’s path forward on walkability focuses on building out missing links, city officials said.
City staff are using the Multimodal Master Plan, which is a network map for walking and biking, and the Clear Creek Trail Master Plan, which focuses on the Clear Creek trail
corridor, to guide where sidewalks and trails go next, Capers said.
New developments must also include sidewalks and connect to neighboring areas, Capers said.
“Probably three-quarters of the city ... has a really good, strong sidewalk network,” she said. “The other quarter, which is in the older part of Pearland, we would have to start looking at adding sidewalks there.”
Upcoming projects in Pearland include the following:
