Austin’s new ‘wishbone’ bridge is opening #news #bridge #wishbonebridge

Austin's long-awaited "wishbone" pedestrian bridge opens Saturday at the eastern end of Lady Bird Lake, completing the biggest gap in the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail.

For the first time since Longhorn Shores was developed in the mid-1970s, people will be able to move along this edge of the lake without being routed next to fast-moving cars and trucks.

The $25 million bridge was mostly funded by voter-approved debt authorized in the 2020 bond election. But the project wound up costing more than expected, so U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, secured more than $4 million in federal funding, allowing construction to kick off in July 2024.

Casar will speak at a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. He'll be joined by Mayor Kirk Watson, among other elected officials. The city says the grand opening will include food trucks and live music.

People on the Butler Trail have had to detour to the Pleasant Valley Road bridge to cross the water. The city started widening the bridge's notoriously slim sidewalks in 2021. But now trail users will have a dedicated car-free crossing that treats the eastern end of the lake as an integral part of Austin's most popular trail.

"It looks simple but it was quite complicated," said Laurie Thering, the city's project manager on the bridge. "It was just fun to do something for the community."

At the heart of the new bridge is a 65-foot-wide central plaza, designed to be both a gathering place and a scenic overlook. The plaza will have shade created by trumpet creeper, a native vine that will grow through trellises wrapped around poles into overhead frames that will support the plant. It could take up to two years for the vine to fully cover the trellises.

The plaza has art benches made from Austin-area trees that would otherwise have been chipped or burned. Fourteen benches have been installed and more are planned.

Dripping Springs-based Jay-Reese Contractors built the Butler Trail Boardwalk, the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge, the 2nd Street Bridge over Shoal Creek and the Confluence at the end of the Waterloo Greenway, set to open June 6.

"It's kind of a blessing [to work on the bridge]," said Bryce Burgess, a superintendent with the contractor. "I have the coolest office in town. ... Definitely something I will use once the fences come down."

The city will own the wishbone bridge, but it will be maintained by the Trail Conservancy, a privately funded nonprofit that has a long-term agreement to operate and maintain the Butler Trail.