Brittany Kelley
KYLE — The Vybe Trail was at the forefront of conversation for Kyle City Council’s Thursday, Sept. 10, meeting.
Beginning with the history of the project, planning director Will Atkinson noted that in 2021, a task force was formed to investigate the trails program in Carmel, Ind., and Peachtree City, Ga. This resulted in the concept of the Vybe Trail in 2022, with the goal of a city-wide trail system to be used by pedestrians, cyclists and golf cart users.
According to the presentation, the pathway first began as an 80-mile network, but expanded to 110.5 miles with the adoption of the 2025 Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan. Of this, developers will contribute 63 miles, or 57%, the road bond was supposed to provide 8 miles, or 7.2%, making the city’s remaining responsibility 39.5 miles, or 35.75%.
It’s also intended to be concrete and ADA compliant. Because golf carts will be allowed, they must be registered with the Kyle Police Department, have head and tail lights, license plates and travel at a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour.
“The system is split into two components. The first being the trail system itself at 12 [feet] in width, made of concrete with decorative lighting along the routes. The trail system is intended for recreational use. The second portion are the ‘Vybe Nodes’ that are higher density living [and] walkable, with ground floor commercial opportunities. The idea is to be able to spend the day on the trail and visit different nodes, each unique,” read agenda documents.
The estimated cost of the trail is $3 million per mile, continued the documents, with the intent of the project being to have private developers build individual segments that total 57% of the trail system.
At the $3 million per mile estimate, the Vybe Trail will cost $347,500,000. After removing developer and road bond funding, Kyle would pay $118,500,000.
Atkinson stated that although restrooms are not required by the city’s adopted Vybe Trail Ordinance, staff is looking to negotiate with developers to add them in at key intervals. He also shared that the ordinance requires Wi-Fi to be available, but that “the city expense and the logistical hurdles of it is astronomical, so we have not added that yet.”
For security, the ordinance dictates that each trailhead and mile marker have numbers on them, so that response teams will know where they are, if they get lost.
So far, 16.03 miles have been constructed, which is 14.5%. There is no current timeline for completion, as it is such a large scale project, said Atkinson.
Additionally, three projects are in the works: Steeplechase Park improvements for $220,000; East Plum Creek Trail improvements for $800,000 through the 2020 parks bond; and $6,903,048 for the 2022 road bonds.
Council member Melisa Medina noted that the Center Street improvements, which include 1.2 miles of the trail, are $19 million over budget and that the “12-foot really isn’t even necessarily all that safe, unless you’re going to stripe it like a regular road. Recommendations that I’ve seen are 14 to 16 feet. So, with that, are we even doing justice in trying to build a 12-foot path? One could argue that you really need to build it wider, but with that, we don’t have that option.”
The reason for adding golf carts, said council member Michael Tobias, was because council was looking for opportunities to allow community members to traverse the city, while removing traffic from roadways.
Council member Claudia Zapata stated that the reason the Vybe Trail needs to be built in the first place is because none of the roads in the city include bike lanes: “This city fails to provide multiple types of transportation options for those who may not have a vehicle, can’t afford a vehicle or would just like to bike … I, for one, don’t think golf carts should be included on there. I would be open to changing that because I just don’t think that’s safe.”
She also praised Austin for having days that visitors can bike to historic sites to learn about the city and proposed implementing a similar system in Kyle by having plaques throughout the trail with information.
“The plan has been poorly planned,” said Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale. “Sometimes, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing and instead of having dedicated staff and a dedicated department, we have it mixed out everywhere. My hope is that will change in the future and that we could have dedicated people, so that we can all be on the same page.”
She also stated that during a past council meeting, when they were discussing the 2022 road bond, that $4 million was slated to be included in it for the Vybe Trail, but “somehow that amount, nor the Vybe in general, made it to the bond language and so, that for me is a bit of frustration because it was a big discussion/argument between me and the previous mayor, which then led to a motion to include it in the bond and for some reason, it never made it into the language … I just want the residents to know that I feel like we’re cleaning up yet another mess.”
Zapata added that while some specific listings in the road bonds are being considered, some are changed and are being overlooked. Council has every right to do this, she said, but wanted to ensure that they are not “just being nitpicky.” Flores-Cale rebutted that there are not many specific terms in the bond language, as it was very vague, which is why she voted against it to begin with.
An example of this is that the bond language states “sidewalk,” instead of Vybe Trail, said the mayor, which means that golf carts would not be allowed, as the city ordinance prohibits them, according to city attorney Aimee Alcorn-Reed.
Ultimately, council opted to ask staff to bring back an item to potentially amend the Vybe Trail Ordinance and update it to align more with the road bond.
Next, a resolution to reevaluate the Center Street on-system and off-system projects was presented. The goal of this item was for council to select either the proposed 12-foot Vybe Trail or a 6-foot sidewalk, determine whether electrical utilities should be relocated underground or remain overhead and potentially authorize the interim city manager to exceed the original budget.
As previously reported by the Hays Free Press, the off-system runs from Old Stagecoach Road to Veterans Drive, while the on-system is from Veterans Drive to Main Street.
For the off-system portion, the proposed plan includes a three-lane roadway configuration, with a 12-foot Vybe Trail on the north side and a 6-foot sidewalk on the south side. This plan also requires utilities to be relocated from overhead to underground. The on-system portion of the project would include widening the roadway to a three-lane configuration, adding a traffic signal at the intersection of Veterans Drive and Center Street, a 12-foot Vybe Trail on the north side, a 6-foot sidewalk on the south side and moving the overhead utilities underground.
City engineer Leon Barba noted that the city council will save approximately $8 million, if a 6-foot sidewalk is adopted, while maintaining overhead utilities.
The costs are as follows:
Off-system: Original budget is $12.3 million
• Option 1: 12-foot Vybe and underground utilities: $29 million
• Option 2: 6-foot sidewalk and overhead utilities: $23.6 million
• Option 3: 12-foot Vybe and overhead utilities: $24.2 million
On-system: Original budget is $10.2 million
• Option 1: 12-foot Vybe and underground utilities: $12 million
• Option 2: 6-foot sidewalk and overhead utilities: $9.6 million
• Option 3: 12-foot Vybe and overhead utilities: $10.2 million
“Maybe I’m doing the math wrong, [but it says] $41 million for this whole [part] from Stagecoach to Burleson. I thought last time it was $31 million,” questioned Flores-Cale.
Barba explained that these are just cost estimates and that the prices could either be more or less as details are finalized.
After discussion noting that a tree on Center Street will likely be affected, Flores-Cale stated that she is “going to make it very clear that at no point am I going to do eminent domain for this Vybe Trail. If other people are comfortable with doing that, that’s their vote. But I’m not a proponent or a fan of eminent domain for any reason … I’m not going to take somebody’s backyard, front yard, side way — I’m not interested in doing that. So, for me that option [3] is off the table.”
Rick Klatt, associate vice president of Lochner, which manages the road bond programs, stated that to do a 12-foot sidewalk at all, whether overhead or underground utilities, for the off-system would require two to three parcels to be obtained for utility easements, which could require eminent domain.
Council member Marc McKinney stated that he feels the trail would activate downtown. Not only would community members find new aspects of the city they hadn’t noticed before, but they could also have a 16- to- 18-passenger locomotive to drive around on nice weather days.
“There’s just so many little things you can do with a Vybe system network. What we’re envisioning. As we start carving it up and taking out segments though, it becomes less useful and provides less value overall. So, that’s my two cents,” said McKinney.
The mayor was also concerned about the cost, as with the current road bond projects, the city is expected to have a $55 million deficit.
Bunton and Lehman roads, specifically, will be affected, said Tobias, which are critical, and the eastern portion of Bebee Road.
“It’s not as simple as prioritizing which one goes first or second or third. The right-of-way acquisition, the status of design, the equipment ordering ahead of time — all of that is involved,” said interim city manager Perwez Moheet. “So, [it’ll be] depending on where we are when we run out of money.”
Zapata questioned why council is considering not finishing roads, as the option before them is to allow Moheet to exceed the budget. So, she suggested allowing him to exceed the budget to complete the roads, even if it meant putting a pause on the Vybe Trail.
“The voters of Kyle have authorized $294 million for the nine roads [in the bond]. You can make the budget $500 million — doesn’t really matter. The question is, if you go above $294 million, where’s the difference going to come from? Are you, as council, authorizing the city manager to issue non-voter authorized debt [with certificates of obligations]? If the answer is yes, we have unlimited money and your taxes will go up along with it. If your answer is stay with $294 million, then we stop where that money runs out,” said Moheet.
Continuing on with her idea, Zapata stated that residents are owed these roads.
“I want to get people their roads. I’m sick and tired of everyone complaining about, ‘Eastside doesn’t have this. The eastside doesn’t have that.’ We all know that and guess what? There have been members on this dais who have had the ability for years to get those things to the eastside,” she stressed.
“Then why are we having this discussion then,” prompted Tobias. “Why are we looking at economic development downtown? Why are we looking at this? … Why are y’all talking about sidewalks downtown?”
Flores-Cale was in agreement, stating that they should instead move forward with improving Bunton and Lehman roads and put the Vybe Trail on pause, which was also requested by the Trail Coalition.
Because council member Lauralee Harris, in whose district the Vybe Trail largely lies, was not in attendance and the fact that an item to pause the project was not on the agenda, staff was asked to bring it back at a later date. The resolution regarding the scope of the Center Street off-system and on-system was tabled 6-0, to be brought back.
“I want to apologize to everybody for all the pause. It’s tough for us, too. We want to see these things move forward, but we also want to make sure we’re doing it in a way that’s fiscally responsible and it makes sense to the totality of the residents,” concluded Flores-Cale.
To listen to the discussion, visit bit.ly/3VpPZRX.
