Pedestrian Bridge Connecting Smithville to Riverbend Park Funded

By Kristen Meriwether, Publisher

Smithville residents will soon be able to walk, bike, or golf cart their way straight to Vernon Richards Riverbend Park, thanks to a $10 million allocation in the state budget for a new pedestrian bridge.

The announcement was made during Friday’s July 4 celebration at the VFW by local realtor Jeannie Ralf, who said the idea started as a simple dream. She said she brought it to State Rep. Stan Gerdes two years ago and he went to work to make it happen.

“What once started as a dream, a simple hope from a citizen to create a safe, accessible path for all is now becoming a reality,” Ralph said. “This is proof of what can happen when citizens, leaders, and communities work together.”

Currently, the only way to reach Riverbend Park is by car via Highway 71. That highway, which is busy with traffic exceeding speeds of 75 mph, has long made pedestrian access to the park dangerous or virtually impossible.

Rep. Gerdes secured $10 million in the 2025 state budget (page 797) to fund the project at no cost to the City of Smithville.

"Every Legislative Session, 150 House members bring their wish lists for local infrastructure projects. I’m proud to be one of the few who can effectively secure funds for these local initiatives improving our safety and quality of life,” Rep. Gerdes said in a statement. “For too long, rural multi-county districts like ours have been repeatedly overlooked or ignored. It's my job to make Austin listen to our demands and ensure that we have what we need to make life easier and safer for our neighbors. This pedestrian bridge will do just that."

TXDOT confirmed they met with Rep. Gerdes and identified a potential route, but the design phase of the project has not yet started.

A construction start date has not been announced. We asked TXDOT if the public will have a say in the final design or location. Their communications office was in emergency operations due to the flooding in Central Texas and did not return emails by press time.

Smithville Texas News will continue following the project and share updates as more information becomes available.

Update 7-10-25, 3pm: TXDOT said a design consultant will need to be hired, proper engineering work completed, and then a contractor selected to build the bridge. The funding to start that process would not be available until Sept. 1.