Erosion prompts Hike and Bike closure

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A stretch of the Hike and Bike Trail on the north shore of Lady Bird Lake will be temporarily closed for repairs beginning in a few weeks.

The section of the trail to be repaired runs along a peninsula between Shoal Creek and a small foot bridge that connects the peninsula to the shore. Erosion has been eating away at the north shores of Lady Bird Lake at the rate of about one foot per year, and is bringing the shoreline dangerously close to the Hike and Bike trail.

“You can see it was about 20 feet out from where it is now,” City of Austin Watershed Department civil engineer Morgan Byars said.

This is not the first time the city has had to deal with this problem. More than 30 years ago, the city attempted to rectify the problem by pouring concrete along the shores of the manmade peninsula where Shoal Creek connects to Lady Bird Lake . Engineers say it was not a long-term solution.

“This is at the lower-end of Shoal Creek which drains a significant part of the city of Austin,” Byars said. “And when the flood waters come down Shoal Creek, they flow over this peninsula here and create the erosion on both sides.”

City engineers plan to fix this by fortifying the peninsula with natural limestone boulders, and slightly raising the section of the trail prone to flooding.

The project will begin in a few weeks and last for six months. It will close a section of the trail along the peninsula, but detours will take joggers along the sidewalk on Cesar Chavez.

“Not only are we stabilizing the shoreline of the peninsula here, but we also are making trail improvements by planting vegetation within this area because this is a public park,” Byars said.

Residents do not seem to mind the inconvenience.

“There’s other ways you can get around this place, it’s not that big of a deal,” trail walker Clayton Evans said.

“I won’t like it – I walk this trail almost everyday,” walker Wally Pliszka said. “But if it’s got to be done, it’s got to be done.”

The city is hosting an open event tomorrow evening for the Shoal Creek Peninsula Stabilization Project where the contractor, along with city officials, will present information on the project and be available to answer questions:

• Meet the Contractor

             Wednesday, December 5, 2012, at 6:00 p.m.

             One Texas Center

             505 Barton Springs Road, RM 325