Current Projects: Completing the Trail with the Riverside Boardwalk
Due to many issues including, private property holdings and topography, there is a 1.1-mile gap in the Trail at Lady Bird Lake, the 10 mile hub in Austin's hub-and-spoke system of trails. Along this gap, users must divert onto the narrow sidewalk and travel along busy Riverside Drive, crossing 35 busy business entrances and other points of conflict and crossing 6 lanes of I-35 access roads to travel east or west and use the south side of the Trail.
There are currently 3,000 to 15,000 people using the Trail every day of the year. The Trail was formed in the 1970’s as part of a lakefront beautification effort. As the city grew in the 1980’s, it became a recreational resource. In 2010, the Trail is now serving our city in an additional way – an alternative transportation route for our growing urban core.
Completing the Trail along the lakefront has been discussed almost since the Trail’s inception. The Trail Foundation's foundational 2007 Investment Study included important transportation data and focused the need to complete the Trail. This study was critical in providing a comprehensive analysis and clear articulation of the range of issues and options associated with completing the Trail. The study included schematics of alternative alignments, conceptual designs, engineering issues, environmental issues, permitting requirements and public involvement options.
The City has now invested over $1.9 million in the design and permitting for completing the Trail. Two private property owners along the route agreed to provide permanent easements for the Trail as well as trail maintenance on their land. In total, this new Trail section will extend about a half mile on each side of I-35. On March 5, 2009, the Council voted 7-0 to approve the alignment recommended by the Parks Department and complete the Boardwalk Design Phase. As of August 2010, the design and construction drawings are at 90% completion and permitting has been initiated. The City completed an extensive public involvement process and the design is responsive to the public input.
To close this gap, a partially overland and partially overwater trail will be built, using 2010 standards for longevity, multiple uses (walking, running, wheelchair, bicyclists of all levels), and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. It will require minimal maintenance and have a minimal impact on the lake. Construction of this section of the Trail is a investment in our quality of life and will serve many generations of Austinites from every corner of our community.
The project is a public/private partnership. To that end, The Trail Foundation has committed $3 million in private funds to support the construction cost of $16 million. The 2010 Transportation bond package, approved August 5, 2010 in a 7-0 vote by the City Council, includes all of the funds for the section from the Austin American Statesman to just east of I-35 and some of the funds for the section from I-35 to the Lakeshore trailhead. The second section is dependent on the City receiving the $3 million of private funds committed by The Trail Foundation. Austinites will vote on the bond package in November 2010.
This project will provide safe, continuous ADA compliant pedestrian and bicycle access along a beautiful section of the public’s lake and parkland. Visitors and citizens of all levels of ability will be able to access the town’s lake and have a safe transportation alternative to riding in a car. Completing this section of lakefront trail will also link communities on the city’s eastside to the downtown area as well as to the westside.
Two people died before the Trail’s popular Pfluger Bridge was built and that bridge has proved to be enormously important for providing a safe north-south pedestrian route over Lady Bird Lake. That bridge cost $9.5 million.
Completing the Trail will close a large gap in our transportation and recreation system. We encourage the City of Austin to complete its most heavily used Trail and then continue to improve the spoke trails that connect to the major hub at Lady Bird Lake. The Trail benefits all of Austin and is worth the needed public and private investment.
The Trail completion project is part of the November 2010 transportation bond package.
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