Perla Cortez EDINBURG – Completed in 2023, the Brownsville Hike and Bike Trail’s expansion is pending the acquisition of land, owned by the Internation Boundary and Water Commission.
Gerardo Rodriguez, assistant vice president of Strategic Space Planning for UTRGV, said the director of Parking and Transportation Department is working with IBWC on an approval to get a hold of the land needed to fully complete the trail in Brownsville.
“So, knowing that we might get those properties in the near future, we kind of stopped the trail so that it would continue through that property once we did it,” Rodriguez said.
The Hike and Bike Trail on the Edinburg campus started when the Texas Department of Transportation provided a grant to UTRGV to help with the construction.
Rodriguez said the Purchasing Department hired a contractor through a bidding process. He said his team created a project document which then was uploaded to a webpage and looked at by various contractors.
“[Purchasing Department] invite contractors that do that kind of work to look at the drawings, if they like the project and they want to bid on it,” Rodriguez said
However, even though the Edinburg Hike and Bike trail was finalized in December, some students claim they were not aware of its existence.
Lalia Zepeda, a theatre junior, said she does not feel safe on the Bronc Trail because of scooters going fast.
“I mean the Bronc Trail is for people to who are walking to get around on campus and if there is a special place for other people who like use scooters and stuff like that so they can get around I think that would actually work a lot,” Zepeda said.
Ericka Marin, bilingual education sophomore, said she has seen students nearly run over by scooter users, regardless of the signs posted on the trail.
“I mean advertise it more, for sure, especially through social media,” Marin said. “I mean if people are in their phone and there [are] signs about it, people are not going to look at it. Always in this area there is guys skating so it’s nice that they are included so they have their own space.”
Pablo Aguilar, UTRGV Parking Services director, released a statement to KVAQ-TV stating he will reach out to the creative team in the department and work on a plan to notify students about the new trail.
There are no current updates on the approval or rejection of the Internation Boundaries Water Commission request.
