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20 Years Later, Mission Trail Project Nears Completion

The plan to connect San Antonio’s Missions from the Alamo to Mission Espada has been ongoing since the mid-1990’s. This portion of the project--called package 4 and 5--will repair streets  and add pedestrian and bike routes along Mission Road to Roosevelt Avenue.

"They complement what’s being down on Mission Reach by the [San Antonio] River Authority because we’ll be interconnecting with our project with a little pedestrian path that goes down to the river and connects with their part," said David McBeth with the city’s capital improvement department.

Mission Trails Oversight Committee co-chair Milton Guess said there were pockets of the project that were incomplete--like lights and signs--but the last two phases will fill in the holes.

"If you’re going to get the World Heritage Nomination, you’ve got to have directional signage showing people how to get from one aspect of one mission to another mission," Guess said. "So that’s real important because there will be over 100 signs."

The city allocated $4 million--some from the bond but mostly federal grants--for the final phase of the project.

"It’s just a really wonderful thing to have our visitors be able to experience the Southside at a different pace with all of the natural enhancements to the river: via bicycle, via walking," said District 3 City Councilwoman Leticia Ozuna.

San Antonio’s Missions were nominated by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar earlier this year to be a World Heritage Site in 2015. The projects will be completed in early 2014.

Joey Palacios can be reached atJoey@TPR.org and on Twitter at @Joeycules