Seeds of progress

Austin's Waterloo Greenway park lands $9 million grant to grow second phase

The second phase of the Waterloo Greenway project will involve planting nearly 1,550 trees, 200,000 mature plants, and 10 acres of seeds along Waller Creek.

Courtesy of Waterloo Greenway

A $9 million federal grant is paving the way for the second phase of downtown Austin's Waterloo Greenway park.

The grant, provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, will enable work to start this October on The Confluence. This second-phase project will involve planting nearly 1,550 trees, 200,000 mature plants, and 10 acres of seeds along Waller Creek, as well as reconstructing eroded creek banks.

The grant was announced at an April 25 news conference.

Supporters say The Confluence will improve air quality and the local ecosystem, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“With City of Austin funding and generous private support, Waterloo Greenway is already contributing so much to our community. Now we have secured federal dollars to back up this local investment,” says U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, an Austin Democrat. “This $9 million represents both the first benefit to Austin from the new infrastructure law and the very first environmental infrastructure project to ever be approved in the state of Texas.”

Waterloo Greenway, winding along Waller Creek, will eventually be a one-and-a-half-mile, 35-acre park system. The Confluence represents about one-third of the total acreage.

“We are a city that delivers on huge aspirations. Into our future, we will continue to need creative solutions to equity, mobility, quality-of-life, and climate resiliency challenges,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler says. “The second phase of Waterloo Greenway embodies our vision, spirit, and values.”

The 2021 opening of Waterloo Park and Moody Amphitheater marked the first phase of Waterloo Greenway. The nonprofit Waterloo Greenway Conservancy is spearheading the project, which will extend from 15th Street along the eastern edge of downtown to Lady Bird Lake. The greenway is scheduled for completion in 2026.

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share the road

Texas races to the bottom in new list of best states for cyclists

Photo by Justin Wallace on Unsplash

If you've ridden your bicycle in Austin, you already know how true this is.

In what will come as no surprise to cyclists around Austin, the state of Texas is not a good place for bicycle riding. According to a new report of the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S.," Texas comes in at No. 47 — meaning that only three other states are worse.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling-friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas' has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."

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