{"id":402826,"date":"2026-08-10T19:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T19:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/402826\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T19:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T19:34:08","slug":"robert-l-b-tobin-land-bridge-does-it-work-as-intended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/402826\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert L.B. Tobin Land Bridge: Does it work as intended?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for TPR Today<\/a>, Texas Public Radio’s newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been nearly six years since the Robert L.B. Tobin Land Bridge<\/a> opened in Hardberger Park in December of 2020. <\/p>\n

It was created to be a wildlife crossing providing safe passage over a six-lane highway. <\/p>\n

Wendy Leonard<\/a> is the nature preserve officer at Phil Hardberger Park, essentially serving as the park\u2019s manager. She says the park is divided by Wurzbach Parkway, creating a major obstacle between its two sides. it was so much of an obstacle that the two sides of the park had to be opened at two different dates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have two sides of the park that were opened at different times,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Blanco Road side opened first, and that was in 2010. And then the Northwest Military side opened in 2012.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those two sections sit on opposite sides of Wurzbach Parkway. The land bridge was designed to give wildlife, and people, a safe way to cross between them.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust linking up habitats so that way wildlife can go from one side of the park to the other to get water, to get any sort of resources, and to find others of its kind,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cBefore the land bridge was even finalized, wildlife was using it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard says the $23 million bridge was also equipped with cameras to track wildlife activity. The video of animals crossing is proof positive that the land bridge wasn\u2019t a failure.<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0RCNX7942_coyote_daytime-111.jpg\n <\/p>\n

A coyote image captured on the Land Bridge.<\/p>\n

Phil Hardberger Park<\/p>\n

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Bobcat mother shown on bridge<\/p>\n

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Bobcat babies mostly grown up <\/p>\n

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Ringtail apparently holding dinner in his mouth<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have set up 12 wildlife cameras as part of a wildlife study to show the use of the land bridge by certain species of wildlife,\u201d she said. \u201cDefinitely for coyotes and for deer, white-tailed deer, the land bridge is being used in its entirety. And we do have evidence that bobcats are using the land bridge as well, moving from one side.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Leonard noted, the young landscape faced an early test from extreme winter weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the ‘snowpocalypse’ and we did lose some trees. More on the land bridge, the top of the land bridge itself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0RobertLBTobin-Land-Bridge-credit-SteveWinters-Wildlife-Crossings-Across=America.jpeg\n <\/p>\n

A view of the Land Bridge from Wurzbach Parkway<\/p>\n

Steve Winters Wildlife Crossings Across America<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Robert-LB-Tobin-LandBridge-Credit-JustinMoore-Airborne-AerialPhotography-16.jpg\n <\/p>\n

Shot of the bridge looking north. A bird blind is that small structure at bottom left.<\/p>\n

Justin Moore Airborne Aerial Photography<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Robert-LB-Tobin-LandBridge-Credit-JustinMoore-Airborne-AerialPhotography-1 (1).jpg\n <\/p>\n

The landscape has filled in and grown well.<\/p>\n

Justin Moore Airborne Aerial Photography<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Robert-LB-Tobin-LandBridge-Credit-JustinMoore-Airborne-AerialPhotography-2.jpg\n <\/p>\n

The land bridge showing the start of the skywalk, which allows visitors to look at treetop level.<\/p>\n

Justin Moore Airborne Aerial Photography<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Robert-LB-Tobin-LandBridge-Credit-JustinMoore-Airborne-AerialPhotography-5.jpg\n <\/p>\n

Looking northeast across the bridge. A berm separates the people walking side at right, and animals to the left<\/p>\n

Justin Moore Airborne Aerial Photography<\/p>\n

In the years since, trees and native grasses on the bridge have filled in considerably, giving those who visit a more natural experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s great exercise, and I like the beauty,” said Vivian Stewart Juarez, who strolled through the park with a friend. \u201cI like the nature, and some of the most beautiful things in the world are free. And so this is one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Juarez said she\u2019s been coming to the park for years, and she\u2019s watched the landscape change.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my goodness, yes! It was all just dirt and little shrubs, and now it’s filled in,\u201d she said.
The native trees and grasses have grown dramatically since 2020. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis land had never been developed. There were no paths. There were no roads. The timber was not cut, so it was an ideal spot of land,\u201d said Melissa Kazen, the executive director of the Phil Hardberger Park Conservancy.<\/p>\n

Kazen noted that the park\u2019s recent history stretches back to its days as a dairy farm.<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0guw-november-Thurs–2021,ts-131.jpg\n <\/p>\n

People out to enjoy the park.<\/p>\n

Phil Hardberger Park \/ Courtesy photo<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0GROWING-UP-WILD-PHP,ts-39.jpg\n <\/p>\n

A child checks out nature.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Phil Hardberger Park<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0cvg-fall-2021-2.jpg\n <\/p>\n

A program to teach kids about nature.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Phil Hardberger Park<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0GROWING-UP-WILD-PHP,ts-21.jpg\n <\/p>\n

Young boy holds a mesquite tree bean.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Phil Hardberger Park<\/p>\n

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A bicyclist at the park<\/p>\n

Courtesy Phil Hardberger Park<\/p>\n

\u201cOriginally, this land that Phil Hardberger Park sits on was a dairy farm, and it was owned by a family called the Voelckers,\u201d Kazen said.<\/p>\n

Max and Minnie Voelcker once owned a roughly 1,000-acre dairy farm here. After Minnie\u2019s death, the property ultimately became part of the Voelcker charitable trust, while San Antonio continued growing around it. The city purchased more than 300 acres of the property in 2007 to establish the park.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trustees knew that Mayor Hardberger was looking for such land, and they contacted Mayor Hardberger, and he and then City Manager Cheryl Scully came out here the next day, looked at the park, and said, \u2018We’ve got to buy this for the city of San Antonio.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Salado-Outdoor-classroom-Justin-Moore-Aerial-Photography.jpg\n <\/p>\n

Salado Outdoor Classroom<\/p>\n

Justin Moore Aerial Photography<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0IMG_6419.jpeg\n <\/p>\n

A deer at the park<\/p>\n

Jack Morgan \/ TPR<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0IMG_6424.jpeg\n <\/p>\n

Skywalk from the Blanco side heading toward the land bridge<\/p>\n

Jack Morgan \/ TPR<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0IMG_6429.jpeg\n <\/p>\n

The Skywalk looking east\/northeast<\/p>\n

Jack Morgan \/ TPR<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0IMG_6425.jpeg\n <\/p>\n

The Skywalk<\/p>\n

Jack Morgan \/ TPR<\/p>\n

The city bought the property, and the first section of Phil Hardberger Park opened in 2010.<\/p>\n

Bill Hockersmith lives nearby and visits often.<\/p>\n

\u201cFour or five minutes to drive here, walk five or six miles, and then go home,\u201d he said.
Hockersmith says he regularly walks five or six miles at the park. That would be impressive for anyone, but perhaps more for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t go very fast. I’m gonna be 80 Sunday, I’m doing the best I can,\u201d Hockersmith said.<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Screenshot 2026-08-10 114319.jpg\n <\/p>\n

Phil Hardberger at the opening of Skywalk<\/p>\n

Jack Morgan \/ TPR<\/p>\n

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\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Screenshot 2026-08-10 085800.jpg\n <\/p>\n

Phil Hardberger hugs a tree.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Phil Hardberger Park<\/p>\n

\n 3 of 3
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0IMG_6380.jpeg\n <\/p>\n

Melissa Kazen and Wendy Leonard on the land bridge.<\/p>\n

Jack Morgan \/ TPR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio’s newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-402826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}