The City of Austin has been planning for some time now to do a major restoration to Waller creek. If you are not familiar with this creek, it is one of the major tributaries that funnel into Lady Bird Lake on the east side of downtown, mostly along Red River, just west of IH-35. Waterloo Park is the main city park where you can check out the creek.
The renovation is ultimately going to be more than just an improvement for the creek. In the end it will be a complete transformation to that part of downtown. The idea is to add more residential high rises with
View Larger Maprestaurants and shopping. A more pedestrian friendly environment should be realized by this project. For the record, let me say that I think this is a great project. That part of downtown is currently a bit of an eye sore and this is just what the doctor ordered. Concerning the trees specifically: I feel good about this too. Since the city employed new leadership in the Parks/Forestry department beginning several years ago, they have been doing a great job of analyzing the existing urban forest, developing a plan and considering public input in a very practical and efficient manner.
Austin Tree Experts has been voluntarily taking care of the trees at Symphony Square for about 3 years now as one of our mechanisms to give back to the public. Waller Creek passes through Symphony Square, so, this project is officially on my turf and on my radar. The city is maintaining a website for the Waller Creek project that contains all the details and master plans. If you want to get all the nitty-gritty details, you can check it out here.
So far the first public stakeholder’s meeting has been held. Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend because it was too close to the end of the year and Christmas which is a very demanding time for me. But, fret not, I will get caught up to speed and find out what exactly is going on. I do know that the first phase of the project will be getting under way soon: to install a large underground concrete tunnel approximately 20′ in diameter to help with storm water runoff. Check back, I’ll be updating this post as things move along.
