Waterloo Greenway Conservancy announced last week that Phase 2 of Austin’s Waterloo Greenway system will celebrate its debut on Saturday, June 6, paving the way for even more walking, running and biking opportunities in the Texas capital. Those festivities will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and include a ribbon-cutting ceremony, park tours, scavenger hunts, face painting, live music, art and kid-friendly attractions.
The project encompasses 13 acres along Waller Creek, with Phase 2 connecting Fourth Street downtown with Lady Bird Lake. That investment comes with a major price tag, with $91.5 million in both public and private investments poured into the secondary phase, dubbed “The Confluence.”
The Confluence is nestled in a mix of high-activity downtown touchpoints, including Palm Park, Rainey Street Historic District, the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Culture Center, the Austin Convention Center,and the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail that wraps around Lady Bird Lake.
Included in the second-phase project is a continuous, off-road 1.5-mile trail that is intended to link Waterloo Park with Lady Bird Lake. Alongside the newly constructed trail, The Confluence features almost 1,600 newly planted trees, 200,000 native plants and 10 acres’ worth of seed mixes to help support native wildlife.
“For a city growing as fast as Austin, that kind of connected, car-free infrastructure does more than move people,” Waterloo Greenway Conservancy wrote in the announcement. “It makes downtown a place people actually want to linger, explore, work, and call home, while serving as an economic engine for Austin. “
Looking toward the future, Waterloo Greenway will shift gears and zero in on Palm Park improvements and Phase 3 of its initiative, with that third segment slated to run between Fourth and 12 streets. That third act development will complete a 1.5-mile trail around Waller Creek and formally connect Waterloo Park with Lady Bird Lake, amplifying 35 acres of parkland and outdoor recreation space downtown.