Heart of the City

5 visionary projects designed to transform Austin's Shoal Creek Trail

Shoal Creek may undergo five big public works projects if funding is approved.

Photo courtesy of Shoal Creek Conservancy

Shoal Creek flows through the core of the city, 11 miles from headwaters near Highway 183 to Lady Bird Lake, draining a 13-square-mile watershed. A hike and bike trail following the creek 3.5 miles from 38th Street to the lake is one of the city’s oldest.

The Shoal Creek Conservancy and City of Austin have announced plans for improvements and extension of that trail. It envisions a 13-mile Shoal Creek Trail running from the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail at Lady Bird Lake to the Northern Walnut Creek Trail north of Highway 183, ultimately part of a 30-mile loop around Austin. Implementation of the plan, like anything in Austin, depends on funding.

Shoal Creek Boulevard improvements
The plan starts with five priority projects, including a two-way protected bike lane and widened sidewalks along Shoal Creek Boulevard from 38thStreet to Foster Lane. The design is not without controversy, especially for residents of Allandale, some of whom recall the Shoal Creek Boulevard Transportation Project, a 2005 effort to make the winding, busy street more bicycle and pedestrian friendly.

During that project, the city installed 37 "curb islands" inside multipurpose biking, walking, and parking lanes along the street — a compromise intended to appease people who wanted dedicated bike lanes and those who wanted street parking. It misfired badly and the islands were removed in 2006. Later, the city installed sidewalks instead.

Updated signage
The next priority step in the Shoal Creek Trail plan — interpretive and wayfinding signage — comes with less baggage. “There is not much signage now and what exists is dated,” says conservancy executive director Joanna Wolaver. “Wayfinding and interpretive signage is important to make people feel more comfortable and welcome along the trail, and so they can find out about the trail’s natural and cultural history.”

The plan includes directional signage along the length of the trail and online information about trail access and trailheads on both the conservancy and city websites.

Three trail improvement projects
The third priority addresses connectivity and gaps along the current trail, such as crossings at West 34th and West 38th streets and the intersection of West 45th Street and Shoal Creek Boulevard. Number four calls for constructing an underpass at West Third Street and incorporation of a historic trestle bridge there.

“The section between West Avenue and Fifth Street has already been transformed, as has the section in front of the new public library, where a wider trail with landscaping takes you to just south of Third Street,” Wolaver explains.

Improvements between West Fifth and West Sixth streets, the final priority project, would widen the trail to between 10 and 14 feet, the city’s urban trail standard, as well as increase native landscaping and improve water quality.

Generally, the goal is to improve the existing trail for recreation and transportation by making it wider where needed, removing sharp turns and switchbacks, and restoring native habitat, Wolaver says. Then, the vision is to extend it northward to Walnut Creek Trail near The Domain.

“All along the route there will be better connections to neighborhoods, schools, and businesses," says Wolaver. "We’re looking to make it a fully functional trail while keeping what people already love about Shoal Creek.”

Shoal Creek Conservancy and the Austin Public Works Department gave presentations on the plan to City Council and city boards and commissions. Ultimately, the Public Works Department will have to incorporate the five improvements as an amendment to the City’s Urban Trails Plan during its next revision process.

“It is a draft plan and we encourage people to provide feedback,” says Wolaver. Members of the public can view and comment on the draft Plan through Tuesday, July 31.

People can donate to the conservancy to help fund the plan. The organization also holds regular volunteer service days on the trail; the next one is on National Public Lands Day, September 29.

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Red Light

San Antonio leads Texas on ending horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

San Antonio has pulled off something that the rest of Texas has yet to do, but it didn't come without some contentious conversations. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

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