Georgetown Edition | December 2025

Government

BY GRACIE WARHURST

Georgetown scraps Berry Creek Trail

What they’re saying

District 5 council member Kevin Pitts said while the trail is “well-meaning,” it is essentially “just a sidewalk down a highway.” He suggested abandon- ing the trail project because of the overwhelming support against it. “We’re looking to try to do something that we feel is good, that people would want, but at this point, the majority of the folks who would likely receive the most benet from this trail don’t want the trail,” Pitts said at the Nov. 12 meeting. Council members unanimously agreed with Pitts’ sentiments, and Mayor Josh Schroeder said there is clear direction to end the trail project. Many residents attended the Nov. 12 workshop to speak against the Berry Creek Trail. Resident Ash Shoeibi said 177 people in the Berry Creek neighborhood signed a petition against the trail, and thanked the council for listening to commu- nity concerns.

When presented with three options at an Oct. 2 public engagement event, about half of the participants voted for no trail at all, the design rm noted in their presentation. Route No. 3, a 5.15-mile trail that would run along Hwy. 195 from Berry Springs until Shell Road and eventually connect to Westside Park, received the second most votes from participants. An extension to this route that would run through Berry Creek Country Club was rejected by 37 out of 41 participants.

Georgetown City Council directed city sta to stop working on the Berry Creek Trail West project, which would have connected county- owned Berry Springs Park with the future Westside Park, at its workshop meeting Nov. 12. Covey Planning and Landscape Architects, the design rm working on the project, presented a feasibility study at the meeting, including possible routes for the trail and ndings from their community engagement process.

Trail loses traction

195

143

60 participants voted for 'No trail at all' • 5 participants voted for Route 1 • 4 participants voted for Route 2 • 55 participants voted for Route 3 In a public engagement process, residents ranked the three trail options:

FUTURE WESTSIDE PARK

Berry Creek Trail West

Berry Creek Trail corridor

AVIATION DR.

Key:

BERRY SPRINGS PARK

Route 1

130 TOLL

What’s next

195

143

Pitts recommended designating the city’s funds, totaling $2.9 million, toward a dierent project in the city’s capital improvement plan. Georgetown will not receive the match from Williamson County that was originally tied to the trail project. “This is something we want to do but where the neighborhood and residents don’t want it,” Pitts said. “We have other needs, things that we need to do; let’s ship funds over to where we need to spend them.”

FUTURE WESTSIDE PARK

AVIATION DR.

BERRY SPRINGS PARK

Route 2

Route 3

130 TOLL

SOURCE: CITY OF GEORGETOWNCOMMUNITY IMPACT

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