The south shore of Lady Bird Lake between the South Congress Avenue and South First Street bridges is the planned site of a new boardwalk along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. A long-awaited boardwalk on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake is set to move forward with $25 million from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), giving the city enough money to replace one of the narrowest, most congested stretches of the trail between Congress Avenue and South First Street.
The funding, detailed in a June 2 city memo, is tied to TxDOT’s multiyear expansion of Interstate 35 through Central Austin. That project is expected to disrupt access to the lake, nearby parks and parts of the trail for years as crews rebuild the highway.
Because of that disruption, TxDOT is required under federal law to give the city $17.6 million. By contrast, the $25 million is a voluntary contribution to the project. However, TxDOT has stipulated that the money must be used for the boardwalk and cannot be swapped for another project, according to a TxDOT letter attached to the June 2 memo. The City Council is expected to consider the TxDOT funding agreement when it returns from its summer recess.
The Austin Parks and Recreation department will ask the council to add the $25 million to its capital budget and amend its agreement with the Austin Public Facilities Corporation to include the boardwalk project. Once completed, the boardwalk would be owned by the city. Austin Transportation and Public Works would maintain the structure, as it does for the existing boardwalk on the southeastern portion of the Butler Trail. The Trail Conservancy, the city’s nonprofit partner for the trail, would help maintain plantings, wayfinding, benches, lighting and other amenities.
The boardwalk funding is the latest milestone for the Lady Bird Lake waterfront. In February, the city opened the “wishbone” pedestrian bridge in East Austin, finally completing the Butler Trail’s 10-mile loop around the lake.