Planned bridge to connect Lady Bird Lake trail gap

Shortly after debuting The Boardwalk on Lady Bird Lake, The Trail Foundation is already busy on its next project along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail in Central Austin.

A new bridge that connects the boardwalk with existing trails will soon fill a gap in the southeast corner of the trail along Lakeshore Boulevard. Currently pedestrians and bicyclists are forced onto the Lakeshore Boulevard sidewalk in front of Hostelling International. The new trail will run behind the hostel and lead trail users up a new steel bridge before rejoining the pre-existing path.

The connection is estimated to cost $300,000 to construct, the foundation's Executive Director Susan Rankin said.

"With the boardwalk completing what was the most dangerous section of the trail, this is the most dangerous remaining area where [trail users] have to go up to an increasingly busy street," Rankin said.

Although the boardwalk project took years to complete, this project has far less barriers to completion, she said. Construction is expected to begin sometime in late summer to early fall and be will be complete by the end of the year, The Trail Foundation Development Director Rachel Rountree said.

The trail serves between 3,000–15,000 users per day, according to foundation estimates, although it is unclear how much the new boardwalk may have increased that figure. The Trail Foundation will run an audit next May to determine whether t rail use has increased since the last such audit in May 2013, Rankin said.