Construction will keep the east end of the downtown Butler Trail loop torn up through most of 2027, and in places for years after that. The pieces that replace it are already built. The Wishbone Bridge opened in February. The Confluence opened in June. Together they give the east end of the loop a new bridge crossing, a creekside boardwalk and most of November's trail events.
The crossing that closed, and the one that took its place
In the week of February 9, 2026, TxDOT closed the east-side I-35 pedestrian crossing so it could build a new Lady Bird Lake bridge as part of the Capital Express Central Project. The west-side I-35 sidewalk is still open. On the east side of the highway, though, trail users can't cross between the north and south shores. The Trail Conservancy's detour page put the closure at about one year and pointed people to two alternatives: South Congress, or the new Wishbone Pedestrian Bridge at Pleasant Valley.
That year is now likely to run longer. In an October 19 report, MySA wrote that crews are building columns and shoreline supports for the eastside pedestrian bridge, and that the new bridge is expected to open sometime in the middle of next year. That puts the opening around mid-2027. The same report says the next phase of demolition on the northbound I-35 frontage road bridge is slated for late 2026.
The Wishbone fills the gap well. It held its ribbon-cutting on February 7 and links the trail at Longhorn Shores, Canterbury and the Holly Peninsula, so people no longer have to cross on Pleasant Valley Road. According to the City of Austin's project page, each of its three legs is longer than three football fields. The shared-use path is 24 feet wide and opens to about 65 feet at a central plaza with shade structures and 14 Maraca benches. The project also added a 165-foot underpass that is lit, drained and decorated with public art. KUT reported that Dripping Springs-based Jay-Reese Contractors built it.
For anyone starting downtown, the east crossing is now farther away and much easier to linger on. A loop that used to turn at I-35 now either turns at South Congress or continues to a plaza with benches over the water.
Every active detour on the downtown loop, by end date
The closures have different end dates, and that matters. The south shore opens back up years before the north-shore detour ends.
| Where | What's affected | Expected through |
|---|---|---|
| East side of I-35 | No north-south crossing; west-side sidewalk open | New bridge expected mid-2027 |
| South-shore boardwalk at I-35 | Access limited along part of the boardwalk; passage under the I-35 bridge stays open | Early 2027 |
| Waller Beach, in front of the Boathouse | Trail rerouted on the north shore | Summer 2027 |
| Riverside Drive ramp to the boardwalk | Ramp closed; staircase and boardwalk open except intermittent closures | 2029 |
| North shore at I-35, along East Avenue | 14-foot detour path, partly decomposed granite | 2033 |
The boardwalk was fully closed from October 12 through 18 while crews worked on the pedestrian bridge. Full closures of trails and waterways near the bridge are capped at three a year, each lasting no more than a week.
The Boathouse stretch, where the end date moved
The Waller Beach reroute near the Austin Rowing Club building isn't there for the highway. It's there for electricity. Austin Energy's Waller Beach Duct Bank Upgrade runs circuits from the Rainey Street substation under the parkland between Brazos and Trinity streets to the downtown network, adding reliability as demand grows.
When the reroute began in June, the Trail Conservancy listed it as lasting through March 2027. Austin Energy's October 2026 update now says the detour in front of the Boathouse will stay through summer 2027, and Community Impact's October 20 roundup reported the same timeline. The underground work itself has moved along. Crews finished about 785 linear feet of tunneling and are moving to cleanup, starting with a crane on the Trinity Street side to lift out the tunnel boring machine. Weekend work there is limited to 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Water line construction comes next. A temporary walkway along Trinity Street has been pushed back until the crane work is finished, and the project has added signage and a mirror at the detour.
A slower pace pays off here. The Waller Creek Boathouse is home to Austin Rowing Club's kayak, canoe and paddleboard rentals and to Alta's Café, according to the city's Lady Bird Lake page. If you'd rather paddle from the west end, Rowing Dock lists daily hours of 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the last boat going out at 6.
The Confluence, the stretch that wasn't there last fall
Just east of the Boathouse, the new part of the loop is in full use. Waterloo Greenway Phase II, called The Confluence, opened June 6, 2026. It covers 13 acres along Waller Creek between 4th Street and Lady Bird Lake and represents a $91.5 million public-private investment. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates designed it. Jay-Reese Contractors, the same firm behind the Wishbone, built it.
Here's what trail users get from it:
- An 800-foot boardwalk set into Waller Creek, so you skip the Red River Street and Cesar Chavez Street intersections
- Three lattice bridges that cross the creek east to west
- About a mile of new and improved trail tying the Lance Armstrong Bikeway, Palm Park, Rainey Street and the Butler Trail together
- Lakeview Terrace, Explorers Garden and the Leaf Deck, all next to the lake
- Nearly 1,600 new trees and 200,000 native plants
The Confluence is also the southern end of a continuous 1.5-mile off-street trail running up to Waterloo Park. You can go the full length of Waterloo Greenway without crossing a busy street. For anyone living north of Cesar Chavez, that gives you a car-free way down to the lake that didn't exist a year ago, and it comes out right beside the Boathouse detour.
November on the new pieces
Most of November's trail calendar lands on the two segments that opened in 2026: The Confluence on the north shore and the Holly area that the Wishbone now links to.
At The Confluence and Waterloo Park
- November 1, 4 to 8 p.m.: A free DÃa de los Muertos celebration at Waterloo Park
- November 5 and 6, 9 to 11 a.m.: Monarch butterfly tagging volunteer shifts at The Confluence
- November 7, 9 a.m. to noon: Morning Glories: Diwali, a family program at Waterloo Park
- November 13 to 21, 6 to 10 p.m. nightly: Creek Show puts ten light installations by local artists along the newly opened stretch from 4th Street to the lake. It's ticketed, with the main entrance at 4th and Sabine and limited $5 parking at the Convention Center's 5th Street Garage.
East of I-35, a Wishbone crossing away
- November 7, 9 a.m.: A Holly Shores BioBlitz where you log species on the trail with your phone, and no identification experience is needed
- November 13, 7:30 to 10 a.m.: A beginner-friendly bird walk with Travis Audubon at Holly Trailhead, with limited registration
- November 14 and 21, 10 a.m.: Native seeding and planting at Volma Overton Sr. Shores and then Holly Shores
Elsewhere on the loop
- Wednesdays, November 4, 11, 18 and 25, 9 to 11 a.m.: Trail Conservancy plant workdays
- November 6 to 8: Austin Food & Wine Festival at Auditorium Shores, plus a Friday evening event at the Long Center
- November 7, 9 to 11 a.m.: A Trail Conservancy open house at the Seaholm Intake Facility, collecting ideas for future programming on the Seaholm Waterfront
- November 13, 10 a.m. to noon: A no-drop art ride with Sunday Cruise past the trail's TEMPO installations
- November 26: The 36th ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot starts at the Long Center. The Bat Bridge Lot is restricted from 6 a.m. to noon.
What comes after the detours
Next on the calendar is the new pedestrian bridge east of I-35, expected around mid-2027. The Boathouse detour and the limits on the south-shore boardwalk are both set to end in the same stretch of 2027. The Riverside Drive ramp stays closed through 2029, and the East Avenue detour stays through 2033. On the west side of downtown, the Seaholm Waterfront's design phase is starting up again, and the Trail Conservancy projects buildout at three to four years. The November 7 open house is the earliest chance to weigh in on what that waterfront becomes.
If your morning loop helped you choose your building, or you're wondering how a lake crossing still a year off might fit into your plans, I'd love to walk through it with you. You can book an appointment with Bea Love anytime.
