Australia’s Goondiwindi Region Mayor Lawrence Springborg praised the construction of a new footpath in the region’s Texas town when he visited earlier in the month, a report said.
The new pedestrian walkway connects the well-known Dumaresq free camping area with the Texas CBD, encouraging visitors to stroll into town to support local tourism organizations as well as other businesses.
The new footpath joins the current path outside the Texas Historical Museum and runs down Flemming Street towards the Dumaresq River rest area. The 2.1-kilometer course is constructed using gravel, with an area of 360 meters made of concrete at the town’s northern end.
Goondiwindi Regional Council allocated $100,000 from the Australian Government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure (LRCI) Program Grant for the project in October 2020.
Council prioritized the project following consultation with Texas Queensland, Inc. (TQI), who had lobbied for years to build the new footpath.
“I think it will be a real benefit to the town,” said the President of TQI, Peter Worthy, at the time of the project’s announcement. “We hope that the new walkway will encourage those campers to stroll into town and explore some of the beautiful local shops and businesses we have here in Texas.
Camping has already proved so popular at the Dumaresq site, and it’s such a pleasant walk into town from there.
In his trip to Texas, the mayor stated that the footpath would be an asset to the town’s expanding tourism industry.
“I’m very glad for the chance to get across to Texas and especially to see this project completed,” he said. “This is an important piece of infrastructure for the town and one that will hopefully support tourism and associated businesses in Texas, as anticipated by TQI.
“I know both Council and the local community have invested significantly into growing the tourism sector in Texas in recent years,” Springborg said. “We have already seen how the Dumaresq River rest area, in particular, is increasingly becoming the location of choice for campers and domestic overnight visitors.”
“Council is doing everything it can to support domestic tourism in the Goondiwindi region and to encourage visitors to stay an extra night and explore what our local towns have to offer.”
Texas is recognized as an “RV Friendly Town” by the Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia (CMCA). The towns must satisfy a set of stringent criteria to earn and maintain their accreditation. This includes providing affordable, short-term overnight parking spaces for self-contained RVs at a reasonable distance from the CBD.