Austin eyeing nearly $23M contract to build new bridge over Lady Bird Lake

Austin City Council could approve Thursday a nearly $23 million contract to build a new bridge across Lady Bird Lake near the Longhorn Dam.

Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN News' top morning headlines from Monday, April 15, 2024.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin City Council could approve Thursday a nearly $23 million contract to build a new bridge across Lady Bird Lake near the Longhorn Dam.

Council will weigh in on a construction contract with Jay-Reese Contractors Inc., with a $20.7 million baseline amount along with an additional $2 million in contingencies. The project will create a new pedestrian and cyclist bridge across Lady Bird Lake, near the Longhorn Dam in east Austin.

Development of the project has been roughly six years in the making. The City of Austin first launched a preliminary engineering report in 2018 to consider whether a new bridge across the lake was possible.

KXAN reporting from 2018 cited city leaders as eyeing the project to improve safety and mobility near the narrow, jammed sidewalk along South Pleasant Valley Road where pedestrians and cyclists currently loop the lake.

In May 2023, the City of Austin released a public input summary on the Longhorn Dam's multimodal improvements. Most respondents wanted to see improved trail connectivity and easier crossings through the project, with safety being the top concern with the existing infrastructure.

The current project design depicts a "wishbone" bridge crossing Lady Bird Lake, linking Longhorn Shores to the peninsula and Canterbury Park while bypassing South Pleasant Valley Road. Current designs also point to a proposed underpass underneath South Pleasant Valley Road to allow uninhibited pedestrian and cyclist crossings to Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park.

Thursday's contract consideration comes after the City of Austin received more than $4.1 million for the project earlier this month, courtesy the federal government. Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas) presented the massive check to city leaders on April 4.

The Longhorn Dam multimodal improvements bridge project was incorporated into the city's 2020 safety and active transportation bond.

"These improvements will address ongoing public safety concerns to bike and foot traffic on the Butler Trail traveling over the Longhorn Dam along South Pleasant Valley Road, a major arterial roadway," city documents note. "The proposed improvements are focused on reducing congestion and enhancing safety by improving pedestrian and bicycle traffic flow, reducing delays at intersection points, providing alternate modes of transportation, and reducing the number of collision points."