Suburban Ninja & the Toro Grande Blvd. Extension

[WhoAmI]

I saw this article on Community Impact, and it was the first time I saw the Toro Grande extension mentioned, so I googled more.   This article from May 10 has an embedded map on which you can zoom in.  I wonder how accurate the red line projection of the road is and where it will go in relation to the church.  Add to this area the extension of the Brushy Creek Trail, and this area will see some significant changes, though the impact on SJ is mostly unknown.

 

 

[GFisher]

This part doesn't sound positive: By extending the road, the city will open inaccessible land to future development.

[Teamsloan]

We need the central TX version of the Walton's. And/or some uber wealthy mountain bikers willing to throw significant money at acquiring land for the purposes of development...of bike trails. It'd be awesome if someone just bought all that land up and said, nope...only nature and trails here.

[Cafeend]

If you look through here   https://cedarparkatlas.com/    there is some great data and if used in conjunction with the Wilco Tax site you can see there are a lot of owners who own what we ride in SN. Not shocked and I personally dont see the area that we use freely as a long term place to ride. 

[WhoAmI]

2 hours ago, Teamsloan said:

We need the central TX version of the Walton's. And/or some uber wealthy mountain bikers willing to throw significant money at acquiring land for the purposes of development...of bike trails. It'd be awesome if someone just bought all that land up and said, nope...only nature and trails here.

I'll go one further: We need more public lands in TX.  3-5% is not enough!

[mack_turtle]

2 hours ago, Teamsloan said:

We need the central TX version of the Walton's. And/or some uber wealthy mountain bikers willing to throw significant money at acquiring land for the purposes of development...of bike trails. It'd be awesome if someone just bought all that land up and said, nope...only nature and trails here.

Should we really need a private entity to do what our state and local governments should be doing with our tax dollars already?

I'll add that if that's the only way to do it in our corrupt system, so be it, but it's a sucky compromise.

Edited July 28, 2020 by mack_turtle

[Barry]

While I certainly agree that public land amounts to very little in TX, we're quite lucky that there is so much agrotourism which supports trail riding. And in many cases that works out better for our purposes.  

[Teamsloan]

No doubt, we should have more public lands, but I also have the admittedly optimistic view that I would rather private enterprise be the solution to problems than relying on the government to be the solution. Role of government type of stuff. And yeah, I realize how idealistic that value sounds as it's getting proven over an over to me how neither government or private enterprise gives a s*@! about me or any good will in general.

[WhoAmI]

2 minutes ago, Teamsloan said:

No doubt, we should have more public lands, but I also have the admittedly optimistic view that I would rather private enterprise be the solution to problems than relying on the government to be the solution. Role of government type of stuff. And yeah, I realize how idealistic that value sounds as it's getting proven over an over to me how neither government or private enterprise gives a s*@! about me or any good will in general.

The thing about public lands in TX is that the government created the problem and society allowed it.  For private enterprise to "be the solution," a private entity would have to purchase land to be used as a park and charge entry fees a la Disney World....or Flat Rock Ranch, which already had the land as ranch land and built trails for added value.  After living and working in stated with great access to private lands (Co, ID, WI, GA,) I advocate for more public lands.

[Teamsloan]

Potentially you could have the biking version of Garey Ranch. Millionaire buys land, donates it to the county with the explicit clause that the donated land will be forever used for mountain biking. If the Gareys can donate land that prohibits mountain biking forever while being purpose built for equestrian activities, then why couldn't that model be used for biking.

Granted you do still have to pay to enter the park, but it's no different in that aspect than any of the other county parklands.

This of course is still all hinging on the dream concept that someone like the Dell, H.E.Butt, or Musk families become mountain bikers. 😛

[mack_turtle]

6 minutes ago, Teamsloan said:

This of course is still all hinging on the dream concept that someone like the Dell, H.E.Butt, or Musk families become mountain bikers. 😛

more likely, the land will be purchased, donated, and open only to Gigabikes. no dirty pedalers allowed!

[Teamsloan]

But it will be a HyperLoop station. So that will be nice.

[TAF]

On 7/28/2020 at 12:54 PM, Teamsloan said:

We need the central TX version of the Walton's. And/or some uber wealthy mountain bikers willing to throw significant money at acquiring land for the purposes of development...of bike trails. It'd be awesome if someone just bought all that land up and said, nope...only nature and trails here.

There’ll be tall black fences around it in no time.

[WhoAmI]

With so may flags on and in the trees there now, I wanted to dig into land ownership. Cedar Park owns a lot of the creek front property and some lots next to the subdivision, and it looks like a developer from Riverside, CA, owns two large tracts there.  Presidio Parmer owns a few acres, too. Toro Grande's extension will likely cross a few property boundaries.

[ATXZJ]

Most expansion discussion seems like a bit of a pipedream. Look how long it's taken just to get another state park going and it's a long way from being done. There's just no interest in expanding public land here. Any private land with elevation (has a view) is worth big money now that everyone is moving here. At this point I can't blame people for selling off every square inch of available land and cashing in. Austin is not Arkansas, and there is no need to bring people here like there is in AR and other states that are pretty shite to live in right now. 

Got to ride some of those brushy trails with the flags and numbered trees a few weeks back. Enjoy them while you can.

[Shanerpvt]

On 7/29/2020 at 11:00 AM, Teamsloan said:

But it will be a HyperLoop station. So that will be nice.

Can you hyperloop with a bike?  That is the real question.

[Shinerider]

On 7/28/2020 at 12:54 PM, Teamsloan said:

We need the central TX version of the Walton's. And/or some uber wealthy mountain bikers willing to throw significant money at acquiring land for the purposes of development...of bike trails. It'd be awesome if someone just bought all that land up and said, nope...only nature and trails here.

I've heard rumors about just such a thing.......Vague whisperings.....You know - on the "D.L." as the kids would say....(that means "down low" - a phrase to indicate it is said in confidence and not meant to be shared on a public forum, or shared anywhere to anyone, for that matter)🙃

[TAF]

On 7/29/2020 at 10:49 AM, Teamsloan said:

Potentially you could have the biking version of Garey Ranch. Millionaire buys land, donates it to the county with the explicit clause that the donated land will be forever used for mountain biking. If the Gareys can donate land that prohibits mountain biking forever while being purpose built for equestrian activities, then why couldn't that model be used for biking.

Granted you do still have to pay to enter the park, but it's no different in that aspect than any of the other county parklands.

This of course is still all hinging on the dream concept that someone like the Dell, H.E.Butt, or Musk families become mountain bikers. 😛

I wouldn’t trust the City of Austin with a donation like that. Remember Forest Ridge .....

[Bamwa]

Nobody should ever ride this trail. It sucks. Take it off the maps. Nothing nothing blah blah blah

[TheX]

How is the sinkhole?

[St.Bernardo]

42 minutes ago, TheX said:

How is the sinkhole?

Still there.  Filled with sticks.  There's a skinny on the creek side that bypass the cavern.

[TheX]

1 hour ago, St.Bernardo said:

Filled with sticks. 

Modern solutions.

[RedRider3141]

Rode SN/ Church Last night, as always very enjoyable but this extension and the new paved trail is always on my mind. That being said, it was BUSY yesterday. Large spectrum of users too, Old, Young, Walkers, Runners, Dogs, Bikes, eBikes, Roadies, Gravel(ers).

[WhoAmI]

Here's the page for the Brushy Creek North Fork Trail and an interactive map that shows the planned route.  While I know some are bummed about this trail's effect in SN, I'm looking forward to the connectivity and the opportunities for trail flow changes it might allow.

[RonSurly]

1 hour ago, RedRider3141 said:

Rode SN/ Church Last night, as always very enjoyable but this extension and the new paved trail is always on my mind. That being said, it was BUSY yesterday. Large spectrum of users too, Old, Young, Walkers, Runners, Dogs, Bikes, eBikes, Roadies, Gravel(ers).

Ninja also!?  I tried riding walnut Sunday afternoon, wow, was busiest I’ve ever seen it. Parking lots full, multiple hikers on every segment of trail. One guy thought he was getting out of the way and stood on the lip of the jump? Has me rethinking when/if there is a good low traffic time now at walnut