The 100-year-old Barton Springs Road bridge is headed for replacement. The public gets its say Nov. 16
City and state staff will take questions at an open house on a new bridge with bike lanes and wider sidewalks. Staff have told council members the old structure is deteriorating, and that construction money still has to be lined up alongside a $32 million federal grant.
The city is inviting residents to weigh in on plans to replace the Barton Springs Road bridge over Barton Creek, the century-old entrance to Zilker Park. A drop-in community open house is set for Monday, Nov. 16, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Road, according to the city's Nov. 2 mobility newsletter. Staff from TxDOT, Austin Transportation and Public Works and Capital Delivery Services will answer questions and collect comments.
If you drive, bike or walk into Zilker, or go to Trail of Lights, Blues on the Green or ACL Fest, this is the bridge you cross.
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What the city is proposing
According to the newsletter, the new bridge would have:
- two travel lanes in each direction;
- wider sidewalks and dedicated bike lanes;
- structural elements that honor the original design;
- changes at the Barton Springs Road and Azie Morton Drive intersection;
- accessibility improvements across the bridge and into Zilker Park; and
- wider hike-and-bike trails underneath.
The project is in design. Because federal money is involved, staff are completing a review under the National Environmental Policy Act. More details are on the city's project page.
What our records add
Why replace it. At the council's April 2 Mobility Committee meeting, Capital Delivery Services deputy director Eric Bailey said the original structure turned 100 this year, was widened to four lanes in 1946 and carries about 20,000 vehicles a day. After inspections, he said, the city shifted travel lanes to the south to keep buses and fire trucks off the oldest, worst-condition part of the bridge. Rehabilitating it would cost about as much as a new bridge but last roughly 50 years instead of 75 or more, staff said.
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Mayor Pro Tem José "Chito" Vela said at the meeting that staff kept telling the council options must put public safety first, and that he was concerned when experts say "concrete is falling off of the bridge."
How the council got here. Bailey said the 2020 bond resolution directed staff to study options. After a December 2023 work session, the council directed staff to pursue full replacement. Staff also noted that while Zilker Park has a historic landmark designation, the bridge itself is not a historic landmark; the Texas Historical Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers are part of the review.
The money. The project is funded mainly by the 2020 transportation bond, plus a $32 million Federal Highway Administration bridge grant for construction, Bailey said. But at a Feb. 3 Audit and Finance Committee briefing on bond spending, a staff member said the bridge "doesn't have construction funding" allocated yet, and that the city was working on matching funds for the federal grant.
The timeline. The federal environmental review takes about a year. Staff hoped to finish it at the end of 2026 and have the project ready to bid in early 2027.
What's next
- Nov. 16, 5-7 p.m.: Open house at the Dougherty Arts Center. Comments can also go through the project page.
- Boards and commissions: The project needs permits and possibly variances that go to city boards through 2026, staff said.
- The council: Its next vote would be on a construction contract, according to staff. That is when the funding question would be settled in public.