Local and federal officials marked the completion of the largest erosion control project in Austin’s history at Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metropolitan Park.
The big picture
The $28.5 million Guerrero Park project included extensive stabilization along Country Club Creek and the construction of a new pedestrian bridge over the channel.
Funding from both city and federal sources supported the stabilization work and new bridge construction after a previous crossing was wiped out during severe flooding in 2015. Austin parks Director Jesús Aguirre said the replacement structure now offers a safer and more accessible route for the area.
“This is about restoring something that was missing as part of the floods, which is this connection down here in East Austin from one side of the park to the other. This impressive engineering and channel stabilization project is obviously really critical, and it will protect this parkland and the park resources,” Aguirre said at a Feb. 6 ribbon-cutting.
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Zooming in
Erosion along Country Club Creek contributed to the previous bridge’s collapse and had left the artificial drainage channel too unstable to support a replacement. Nearby homes, infrastructure, trails and parkland, including the Krieg Fields ballparks, were also threatened by previous conditions that worsened at an “alarming rate” after 2015, according to the city.
Erosion along the sandy Country Club Creek worsened in the wake of 2015 flooding. (Courtesy city of Austin)Stabilization and construction work has taken place in the years since the floods, capping off with this year’s ribbon-cutting at the channel. Country Club Creek now has a restored natural bottom and new stabilization features like rocks and native grass on its banks. The city also planted more than 40 trees around the project area, and $500,000 was contributed for future plantings around the park to replace losses from erosion.
The more than 160-foot bridge connecting the park’s east and west sides was designed to withstand future floods, and spans one of three new grade-control structures for stormwater in the channel.
The majority of the bridge and channel project was funded through Austin’s 2018 bonds, which included $184 million for flood mitigation and open space protection, as well as city drainage utility charges. It also received an $8.45 million Federal Emergency Management Agency hazard mitigation grant.
What they’re saying
Mayor Kirk Watson called the nearly $30 million project a “massive” and “transformative” infrastructure investment for the east side.
“This project stabilizes the creek channel and it protects parkland, it protects trails, it protects homes and it protects our infrastructure from erosion,” he said. “It also includes … this new 164-foot pedestrian bridge that restores connectivity for visitors that come to this park, and it ensures that everyone will be able to have access and enjoy all the green space and the trails in a safe way.”
City and federal funds supported the stabilization of Country Club Creek. (Courtesy city of Austin)U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said he and his wife had previously experienced challenges cycling through the park in the aftermath of the floods. He said the weather event demonstrated the need for improvements like the city project and that he’s “delighted” to have a new connection through the area.
“It is a great way to connect not only these ballparks on either side of this bridge, but to connect the Town Lake trails all the way over to Montopolis and back again,” he said. “While we have some great trails around Austin, we need more of them connected just like this so that people can use them for recreation, as we do, or to bike to work.”
While working in an active creek proved to be “extraordinarily challenging,” Austin Watershed Protection Director Jorge Morales said the project came in under budget. He also pointed to its recognition by the Texas Chapter of the American Public Works Association, which named it 2025 environmental project of the year in the $25 million-$75 million category.
Watershed Protection Director Jorge Morales (right) noted the stabilization project’s recognition by the Texas Chapter of the American Public Works Association. (Courtesy city of Austin)