The hike and bike trail around Lady Bird Lake is one of the most popular attractions in Austin. But for a long time that at least one section of the path is unsafe 鈥� and it鈥檚 only getting worse.
The Pleasant Valley Bridge over the Longhorn Dam is the only way to cross the lake east of I-35, but it鈥檚 a notoriously tricky crossing. Cyclists and pedestrians are funneled into a sidewalk that narrows down to around 4-feet wide on the western side of the bridge. Jersey barriers and a chain-link fence block people from traffic on one side, and an approximately 3-foot-tall railing stands between them and a drop into the lake on the other.
The situation forces trail users into a precarious tango when crossing the bridge. If the trail is busy, some people squeeze as far against opposing barriers to give each other room to pass, a frightening proposition, especially for cyclists contemplating a drop into the water.
Others simply wait at the ends of the bridge to avoid the difficulty.
, the city announced plans in 2013 for a bike lane on the bridge. Some people in the nearby neighborhood opposed that plan, and the city backed off. A year later, Austin proposed building a whole new pedestrian bridge as part of its Holly Shores redevelopment. That project was also met with opposition.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been on our radar for a long time,鈥� says Nathan Wilkes, a planner for the city鈥檚 Transportation Department.
Wilkes says the department recently received money to study a new bridge, but the actual building of a bridge is still only a distant possibility.
鈥淵ou need to have an engineering firm, which we're working on getting on board, in scoping a study that can handle the hydraulics of the dam, looking at various alignments and their pros and cons, and how it might affect community and water flows, etc.,鈥� Wilkes says.
Austin's included improving the crossing on a list of projects highlighted in a recent 鈥淪tate of the Trail鈥� announcement.
Heidi Anderson, executive director of the foundation, says it is working with the city to look at different places a new bridge could be installed.
She says there were options beyond building a new bridge over the lake.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a potential for attaching something to the dam itself, to create a separate pedestrian space,鈥� Anderson says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 even a third concept, which brings us underneath the road of Pleasant Valley and creates a connection on that side.鈥�
Anderson equated the project with the construction of the Lady Bird Lake boardwalk, a piece of infrastructure that took many years, cost millions of dollars and attracted much controversy.
In the meantime, trail users wonder if the city couldn鈥檛 find a short-term solution to give them more room to cross.
鈥淟et鈥檚 just extend [the sidewalk] a little bit,鈥� says jogger Brent Meador, guessing an extra foot would help. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 easy right?鈥�
Not according to Wilkes.
鈥淭hat also needs to be studied in detail," he says, "and there needs to be public conversations about what may be possible.鈥�
In the meantime, hike and bike traffic on the trail continues to increase along with development on the East side, including a new campus for the tech company Oracle, which will bring thousands more people to the area.
