More Trail Changes

Austin Parks adds new restrictions to hike-and-bike trail to combat COVID-19

Trail users should now go clockwise around Lady Bird Lake.

Photo courtesy of The Trail Foundation

The city has announced even mores changes for the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. In the weeks since Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt rolled out Stay Home/Work Safe measures to help combat the novel coronavirus, the 10-mile trail has become the subject of increased and ever-changing regulations.

Beginning today, parking is being decreased around popular parks, and the trail will now be one-way in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. The newest rules were implemented on Monday, April 13, the same day city parks and trails reopened after closing for four days to keep residents away during the traditionally busy Easter weekend.

The decision, says Austin Parks and Recreation Department, was made in conjunction with the Public Health Authority and the City of Austin Equity Office in "recognizing the positive benefits parks and trails have on mental and physical health when used while practicing physical distancing."

Parking
Parks within the bounds of MoPac and I-35 and Barton Springs Road and 15th Street will all have reduced parking. This includes, but is not limited to: Zilker Park, Butler Shores, Auditorium Shores, and Republic Square Park.

Additionally, all other district and neighborhood parks with parking lots will see decreased availability.

"Reducing parking access will decrease the number of visitors and amount of crowding within a park, while keeping parks open to provide health benefits," notes Sam Haynes, a senior public information officer with the City of Austin.

One-way on the trail
Perhaps the biggest change to date, the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail will implement a one-way policy, guiding users to all go clockwise around Lady Bird Lake. South of the water, people should travel from east to west. North of Lady Bird Lake, people should travel from west to east in accordance with how the current mile markers are set up.

Signage and park rangers will be available to help guide trail users, and the new rules do allow multi-directional travel for those with mobility impairments in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

With the new changes beginning Monday, the city says it hopes to have them fully implemented by Friday, April 17.

parks traffic

More Foraging

Free 'food forest' in East Austin expands with thousands of new plants

Angelina Alanis at Festival Beach Food Forest

Photo courtesy of KVUE

Angelina Alanis gives a tour of the garden, which is open to anyone.

In East Austin, there is an edible forest garden called Festival Beach Food Forest where anyone can walk around and harvest free produce, nuts, medicinal plant leaves and herbs. And over the summer, it grew to several times its size.

The forest has fig trees, peach trees, grapevines, asparagus and more that's not in season right now. You can grab passionfruit and plants like yaupon holly, with leaves that can make a caffeinated tea, rosemary and lemon balm.

"[Lemon balm] is part of the mint family," said Angelina Alanis, communication and partnership coordinator for Festival Beach Food Forest. "It has a lemony taste but it's good for a nervous stomach. I'm prone to anxiety so I always grab a hunk."

The food forest is located right next to Interstate 35 and Lady Bird Lake on 29 Waller St., near a part of town that's known for being a food desert, lacking grocery stores.

"There's as much as a 20-year life expectancy difference between parts of East and West Austin, and a lot of that comes down to food access, health care access and also access to nature."

Alanis said for the past nine years, the volunteer-based grassroots project been helping with the issue and just recently expanded in the summer from two-thirds of an acre of city parkland to over 3.5 acres.

"We're going to have hundreds of new trees," said Alanis. "We've already planted 150 new trees in the area and then thousands of plants on the ground."

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They also plan to add a community kitchen and a pavilion to do things like cooking classes or informational sessions.

Read the full story at KVUE.com.

health wellness gardening volunteering