For the first time in more than two decades, Houston has a detailed strategy to improve bicycling - an ambitious but mostly unfunded plan to enhance bike culture in one of the nation's most car-focused cities.

The Houston Bike Plan identifies $300 million to $500 million in improvements aimed at encouraging cycling and bringing more accessibility to every corner of the city via paths, off-street trails and safer lanes where cyclists share the road with drivers.

A key goal of the plan is to generate discussion about how to proceed as interest in cycling increases in Houston, officials said.

"Once we have consensus on how to make Houston a great place to ride a bicycle, we're then going to need to look very carefully at all of our funding tools on how we can actually implement this as quickly as possible," Houston Planning Director Patrick Walsh said. "I just don't think we're quite there yet. That's the next step."

City officials spent $500,000 developing the plan with outside consultants. It was released last week.

The document lays out hundreds of potential improvements via bike lanes and other amenities. It focuses on creating appealing routes to destinations many people want to reach.

Houston's last bike plan was completed in 1993, and portions of it remain on the drawing board. Other cities, meanwhile, are joining Houston in developing new plans or laying the groundwork for improvements. Dallas area officials in January committed $7 million to a 64-mile "bike superhighway" between Dallas and downtown Fort Worth, mostly along the Trinity River.

San Diego's recently released mobility plan will essentially separate cyclists and automobiles throughout the downtown area - a nod to huge demand for cycling and the need for safer streets.

Slightly more than half of the 495 miles of bike lanes and trails around Houston, 259 miles, are considered "high-comfort," meaning the average rider would feel comfortable and safe riding on them. Only 39 miles are on city streets, with the rest representing the extensive bayou system and trails built over old railroad lines.

Bike advocates acknowledged that the plan's goal - creating a 1,600-mile bike system in Houston over 20 years - would not be cheap, but they said sticker shock should not dampen enthusiasm for the plan's ideas.

"You are always going to have your naysayers because some people in Texas love their cars and don't think anything should change," said Regina Garcia, chairwoman of BikeHouston, one of a handful of groups active in developing the plan.

709 miles of lanes, trails

A short-term list of projects compiled as part of the bike plan would increase miles of high-quality bike lanes and trails to 709 in the next five years, including 328 miles of on-street, high-comfort lanes. Most of those lanes can be built cheaply by restriping roads and adding signs, at a cost of $24 million to $45 million.

"I don't think there's going to be some dedicated fund or anything to specifically deal with this," said Councilman Larry Green, chairman of the city's transportation, technology and infrastructure committee. "I believe, for the most part, the way we really get it done is as we rehab streets and repair streets."

Proponents, enthused by the draft report, cheered its release while downplaying its immediate impact.

"It does not commit any city dollars," said Mary Blitzer, government and grants director for the nonprofit BikeHouston. "Money is going to be figured out on a project-by-project basis."

The lack of connections between many current trails leaves Houston with a patchwork system that favors recreational riding over using bikes for daily transportation, bike advocates said. Even riding for fun and exercise is convenient mostly for the select few who live near a trail.

"Across the spectrum, from necessity-cyclists to choice-cyclists, they want safer options to ride," Blitzer said.

Some improvements already are underway. When projects under construction or planned in Houston are considered, the length of high-comfort routes grows to 380 miles, including 72 miles on city streets.

The plan lays out improvements in every City Council district, though there are distinct hurdles to developing bike lanes citywide.

"Making it happen equitably around Houston will be a challenge," Blitzer said.

In suburban parts of the city, planners said, major streets where businesses have numerous entrances and exits make it difficult to develop safe on-street bike paths. In some neighborhoods, these are the only streets that provide good connections to common destinations.

Industrial areas and neighborhoods divided by Houston's enormous freeway network pose other challenges.

Use of bike racks doubled

Today, cyclists find safe routes around Houston either by word of mouth or online, as cycling becomes more common throughout the region. Since 2011, when the Metropolitan Transit Authority began tracking use of bike racks on buses and trains, use of the racks has doubled from about 10,000 per month to around 20,000.

"There's times you can't get on a bus because both bike racks are taken," said Dwight Lamster, 39, who commutes by bike from Richmond near Kirby to Greenway Plaza, and takes Metro when it rains.

Though cyclists represent a small portion of the commuting population, Houston has pockets where cycling to work is growing. Most Census Bureau tracts where at least 3 percent of residents commute by bike are within or just outside Loop 610.

As interest in cycling has increased, even modest efforts to improve access have encountered problems.

For example, a protected bike lane that opened last year on Lamar Street downtown prompted concerns from owners of parking garages about reduced access to their entrances and exits. Then-Mayor Annise Parker stepped in to curb the number of delivery trucks and drivers that parked in the lane.

Despite slow-going, cycling advocates said the bike plan is coming at a good time and with a greater chance to succeed than previous efforts. As Houston has grown, many newcomers are arriving from cities across the world that have more cycling, pedestrian and transit options.

"Public Works is doing a much better job of working with the planning department and groups like BikeHouston," Garcia said. "They are learning that the people of the city expect more. It is not just about getting a car down the road as fast as possible."