Garcia on new program to fund hiking, bike trails: 'We have to be much more strategic'

Excessive money from Harris County toll roads will go toward hiking and bike trails under a new program approved by the Harris County Commissioners Court, Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported. 

The county's "Tollways to Trailways" project seeks to generate 236 miles of bikeways and sidewalks, according to KHOU. 

Harris County Precinct Two Commissioner Adrian Garcia, who voted for the project, said that past surveys revealed millennials prefer to walk or bike to parks 10 minutes closer to where they live. 

"The community does not want just more concrete and more lanes," Garcia, a Democrat, said, the station reported. "We have to be much more strategic."

According to KHOU, the first leg of "Tollways to Trailways" comes with a price tag of $53 million, and the project is intended to help residents amid surging prices at the pump.

The project was opposed by the commissioners court's two Republican members, R. Jack Cagle and Tom Ramsey.

Ramsey, who represents Harris County Precinct One, asserted that the project consists of "too many unknowns."

"Safety is my No. 1 concern and I've not seen enough of the concept to confidentially say it's properly being addressed in these projects," the commissioner said, the station reported.

Cagle, who represents Harris County Precinct Four, voted against the initiative though he frequently uses his precinct's hike and bike trails, KHOU reported.

According to him, the county's parks budget should cover additional trails.

KHOU reported that the county will present plans to residents at a later date.

"This investment is absolutely going to project us into the status of being a much more contemporary community, which will attract more growth, which is what we want," Garcia told the station.

County leaders passed the measure on Tuesday (May 10), KHOU reported.