CYCLING IN SAN MARCOS
The San Marcos biking community just celebrated National Bike Month. From the ever-evolving infrastructure to the biking communities and clubs, the cyclist culture is thriving in the 78666. Within the past few years, new bike lanes have been popping up through downtown and extending into neighborhoods. Although the city is investing in safer travel infrastructure for cyclists, the town’s bike paths still have room for improvement with local cyclists encouraging the development of more bike specific lanes and increased education for drivers sharing the road with those on two wheels. “The city is actively making progress on the community’s goals for bike infrastructure as outlined in the adopted plans and policies. This includes construction of a two-way cycle track on Guadalupe Street that provides a key bike connection through Downtown and a Shared Use Path along the San Marcos River and Hopkins Street,” said Andrea Villalobos, San Marcos Planning assistant director. “The city actively reviews existing streets for opportunities to install bike facilities such as installing bike lanes on Cheatham Street in 2021 and Chuck Nash Loop and Riverwalk Drive in 2024. In recent years, buffered bike lanes were installed as part of roadway improvements on Craddock Avenue, Sessom Drive, and Academy Street, N LBJ Drive, and Hunter Road and provide bicyclists with additional separation from adjacent vehicles. In total, the city has 121 miles of bike facilities including on-street bike lanes, shared use paths, and natural trails.”
San Marcos has been designated a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community for the second time through the League of American Bicyclists.
