The trail surface must cross over an underground pipeline at a 90-degree angle, she said, so work is underway to update the design for that requirement.

The next portion the city of Austin Public Works Department will begin work on is the part that extends from the William Hampton branch of the Austin Public Library to the intersection of Brush Country Road and Convict Hill Road, which is part of Phase 2 South, said Chad Crager, division manager. That project is expected to go out for bids during the second week of November. The design for it is complete, he said, adding the trail surface incorporates a material called StaLok, which looks like natural material but has a more solid foundation than dirt and loose stones, he said.

“The first week of April is when we expect to break ground,” he said. The project will be substantially completed by November 2017, and the section that is in the Texas Department of Transportation right of way is going to be concrete, he said.

That portion of the trail will be maintained by public works, he said.

The project area passes through a habitat of tawny crazy ants, and mitigating the invasive species’ potential spread had delayed the project.

“We worked very closely with the Balcones Canyonland Preserve to basically make sure that the contract specifies how to [deal with] the tawny crazy ants,” Crager said, adding vehicles must be washed down after they leave the site to prevent ants from being carried away from the area.

Future work

Phase 2 North is a $1.4 million north section from Home Depot Boulevard in Sunset Valley to just south of where MoPac meets Williamson Creek.

The city expects to advertise bids for that section in February and expects a notice to proceed, or start turning dirt, in June, Crager said.

The plan is to have a trailhead at Home Depot Boulevard as well as behind the Randalls store, he said.

Funding for the trail comes from bonds, Crager said. 

HCC is in the last year of a three-year capital campaign that would help fund the trail, Cofer said.

“The reason that HCC—which is a land trust, not a trail-building entity—[got involved] was because we wanted to give access to the [conservation] lands,” she said, adding the nonprofit is working to protect thousands of acres of land, scenic vistas and water quality. “People aren’t going to value conservation unless they can see it.”