2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB4230
HB4230 directs the General Land Office to coordinate a network of hiking and bicycling trails linking the Alamo with the State Capitol, with connections to Barton Springs, San Marcos Springs, Comal Springs and San Antonio Springs.
Official caption: Relating to the establishment of a hike and bike trail to be known as the Bicentennial Trail.
Official report lists House author(s): Metcalf, Flores, Isaac, Martinez Fischer. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.
Bill highlights
Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.
- HB4230 directs the General Land Office to coordinate a network of hiking and bicycling trails linking the Alamo with the State Capitol, with connections to Barton Springs, San Marcos Springs, Comal Springs and San Antonio Springs.
- The land office must undertake to ensure the Bicentennial Trail is established by January 1, 2036.
- Property or property interests needed for the route cannot be acquired through eminent domain—government's compulsory acquisition power.
- The law took effect September 1, 2025.
What does it do?
HB4230 directs the General Land Office to coordinate a network of hiking and bicycling trails linking the Alamo with the State Capitol, with connections to Barton Springs, San Marcos Springs, Comal Springs and San Antonio Springs. It defines a hike-and-bike trail as designed exclusively for pedestrians and bicyclists and identifies recreation, environmental stewardship and Texas history and culture as the purposes.
The land office must undertake to ensure the Bicentennial Trail is established by January 1, 2036. It must enter coordinating agreements as necessary or convenient with local governments, nonprofits, Parks and Wildlife, transportation officials and other appropriate partners. Agreements can cover development, maintenance, property interests and conservation; the land office may adopt implementing rules and acquisition timelines.
Property or property interests needed for the route cannot be acquired through eminent domain—government’s compulsory acquisition power. State-acquired trail property may be used only for trail purposes. The Parks and Wildlife Department must maintain property it acquires for the trail, not automatically every segment owned by anyone else.
The law took effect September 1, 2025. Its coordinating section expires September 1, 2037, but the bill expressly preserves agreements made under that section. It does not say the entire trail must close or all agreements end in 2037, and it does not establish that a continuous public route is already open.
What changed along the way?
The introduced bill specifically contemplated agreements with Parks and Wildlife to acquire needed property and required it to maintain any property acquired by the state for the trail. The House substitute replaced that structure with broader coordination agreements and limited the department’s express maintenance duty to property it acquires.
The engrossed, Senate committee and enrolled texts retained the substitute’s provisions. The amendment index lists no floor amendments. The official history records the governor’s June 20 signature.
For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.
Official bill versions
Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.
Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?
Walkers, bicyclists and communities along a completed route could gain recreational connections and heritage-tourism opportunities. Landowners retain protection against compulsory acquisition for this project. Actual routes, voluntary property arrangements, construction and maintenance still require coordination and resources.
The latest fiscal note could not determine the full state or local cost because needed land, engineering and construction were unknown. It estimated two additional land-office staff and related costs of $260,917 in fiscal 2026 and $255,589 in fiscal 2027, while warning that acquisition, engineering and construction could exceed $1 million per mile. That per-mile estimate is not a funded project budget.
For the final structure, Parks and Wildlife expected to absorb its duties with existing resources because the bill does not direct it to acquire land; actual acquisition could change its costs. Transportation officials likewise expected to use existing resources. Earlier introduced-bill estimates of additional park staffing should not be presented as the final staffing requirement. HB4230 itself makes no appropriation.
Review boundary: This explains the statutory project, restrictions and estimates, not a completed route map, landowner agreement, current construction status or guarantee of completion by 2036.
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.
