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Consultant outlines 60‑acre Horseshoe Trails Park master plan, estimates multi‑year phased costs
Summary
Dunaway Associates presented a 60‑acre master plan for Midland County’s Horseshoe area with six phases, roughly $5–8 million per phase and a 25% contingency; commissioners discussed access, utility and environmental issues but took no formal vote on funding.
Dunaway Associates presented the final master plan for a 60‑acre Horseshoe Trails Park to the Midland County Commissioners Court on May 20. The consulting team said the plan—developed after a two‑year study and committee review—organizes active and passive recreation into six phases and emphasizes connections, shade and low‑impact nature trails.
Tim Hare of Dunaway said the plan lays out primary user groups (nearby South Midland neighborhoods, Midland visitors and interstate travelers) and places amenities including a dog park, restrooms, extensive perimeter and nature trails, a central market/food‑truck hub, playgrounds and substantial shade structures. The team proposed phased implementation with phase budgets commonly around multi‑million‑dollar figures (the consultant presented phases averaging roughly $7,000,000 each) and built a 25% contingency into estimates to account for current material and labor uncertainties.
Hare identified practical constraints and dependencies: future Harris Road access and a planned I‑20 frontage road connection would enable southern access, but Harris Road construction may be two to three years out. He also noted existing oil and gas wells and a tank facility on or near the site and said the team had performed only a cursory environmental review and budgeted for potential unforeseen remediation costs.
Commissioners asked about local use, planting strategies and ties to nearby amenities. Judge Terry Johnson described the project as a “calling card” for Midland and said he expected local and visitor use. Commissioners raised the possibility of combining or re‑sequencing phases, working with AgriLife/master gardeners on plant palettes and staging tree plantings early to control future costs.
No funding appropriation or formal design authorization was adopted at the meeting; staff indicated that, if the master plan is acceptable, subsequent court meetings would consider task orders to begin phase‑one design and contracting.
