A shaded stretch of Austin's most heavily traveled trail is about to become a construction site for up to eight years. But with days to go before equipment is moved beneath I-35, details of a years-long detour for the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail remain up in the air.
The 10-mile-long Butler Trail, used by an estimated 5 million people per year, will continue to run beneath the interstate while the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) tears down and rebuilds the I-35 bridges that cross Lady Bird Lake.
But the path will be reconfigured until construction is scheduled to end in 2033. It's unclear how the trail will navigate the worksite and heavy equipment under the highway or how wide it will be.
During more complex phases of demolition and building, the popular pathway could be completely closed at I-35 for up to five days at a time.
TxDOT said this won't happen more than three times per year, but during those times an official detour won't exist. Pedestrians would face an almost-mile long trek up to Holly Street and back to cross the 63-year-old highway.
"We definitely want to keep this as safe as possible," said Charlotte Tonsor, executive projects director with The Trail Conservancy. "We understand what this will do to the daily use, to the weekly use, to the visits. So we take that very seriously."
The Conservancy, which manages the trail and Town Lake Park, has been working with TxDOT to negotiate a detour. Tonsor said the rerouted path under I-35 should be "between 10 to 14 feet in width" to accommodate the thousands of people who pass through the area every day.
A diagram in TxDOT's construction plans suggests at least part of the detour could be a five-foot-wide temporary concrete sidewalk.
The Butler Trail detour project involves multiple agencies � including the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, TxDOT, the Trail Conservancy and the contractor Balfour Beatty Construction � and has generated confusion even among those involved.
The listed the trail detour as starting this month. But TxDOT confirmed the trail won't be rerouted until after a public "" meeting expected in early September.
The Butler Trail detour is just one small piece of what will be years of road, sidewalk and trail closures as TxDOT expands an eight-mile stretch of I-35 through Central Austin.
In 2026, the sidewalk on the northbound frontage road bridge over Lady Bird Lake is scheduled to close. The southbound sidewalk will remain open, but pedestrians and cyclists will have to adjust.
TxDOT is scheduled to start work next year on a new pedestrian-only bridge on the east side of I-35. Sidewalks on the vehicle bridges will be rebuilt to be wider and separated from traffic.
More immediately, starting Sunday, TxDOT will close a free parking lot and install fencing under the interstate on the north shore of Lady Bird Lake. The lot, which has about 50 spots and is owned by TxDOT, has long been used by everyone from kayakers to retirees who fish beneath the bridge. That lake access will not be replaced during construction.
"Even the pigeons know me," said Jose Martinez, who said he has been fishing for bass and catfish under the shade of I-35 for 18 years.
When asked how he felt about the parking lot closing, he took a drag of his cigarillo and said calmly, "Well, I'll have to find another place."
