Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Construction starts on mile-long missing link in Violet Crown Trail

An aerial view of where the new section of Violet Crown Trail will be constructed
Nathan Bernier
/
KUT
The new section of the Violet Crown Trail will be built through the wooded area on the right. It starts at the Home Depot in Sunset Valley and then passes under MoPac just north of William Cannon Drive.

Construction starts Monday on the Sunset Valley portion of the Violet Crown Trail, a 30-mile path planned to run from Barton Springs Pool in Zilker Park through the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and eventually south into Hays County.

MAC, Inc. — a construction company hired by the City of Austin's Public Works Department — will carve the 1-mile stretch through a wooded area at the end of Home Depot Boulevard in Sunset Valley and underneath MoPac. It will then be connected with the sidewalk on the MoPac frontage road north of William Cannon Drive.

A separate section will continue on the east side of MoPac, south of Ben Garza Lane, and end at Sabio Drive.

A map of the new section of Violet Crown Trail
City of Austin
The new section of Violet Crown Trail will start at Home Depot Boulevard, go under MoPac and connect with a sidewalk along the MoPac frontage road.

"It will be nice just to have more trails," said Marina Gallos, a nearby resident whose dog was playing on a recent afternoon in a small grassy area at the end of Home Depot Boulevard. "That's kind of what Austin's known for, so I would be happy."

The 1-mile section of trail will cost $2.9 million to build. About 43% of that is coming from a federal grant distributed by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. The rest of the money is from voter-approved bonds passed in 2012 and 2016.

An animation of an aerial view over the area where the trail will go.
Nathan Bernier
/
KUT
The new trail section will pass through this wooded area on the east side of MoPac between Home Depot Boulevard and William Cannon Drive.

Development of the Violet Crown Trail is spearheaded by the Hill Country Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that's been working on the project since it was dreamed up in 1999.

The Hill Country Conservancy expects to break ground this year on a 1.7-mile stretch of trail from Slaughter Creek to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Once the two sections are done, a goal planned for early 2023, the Violet Crown Trail will be complete from Barton Springs Pool to the Wildflower Center.

A map of the Violet Crown Trail from Zilker Park to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Hill Country Conservancy
A map of the Violet Crown Trail from Zilker Park to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

But that's less than half of it.

A map showing the Violet Crown Trail path planned from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to the Onion Creek Management Unit
Hill Country Conservancy
A map showing the Violet Crown Trail path planned from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to the Onion Creek Management Unit

Early discussions are underway to complete a final 17-mile section of the trail from the Wildflower Center to the Onion Creek Management Unit in Hays County. That section would be a narrow nature trail through land owned by Austin Water.

The Violet Crown Trail lacks the uniformity of standard urban trails in the city. Some sections are rocky, wild nature paths. Other areas, like the stretch being built in Sunset Valley, are 10-feet wide and made of crushed granite held together with a binder called Stalok.

In parts, the Violet Crown Trail relies on public sidewalks next to multiple lanes of traffic. The new mile-long section being constructed by the city connects to a sidewalk along the MoPac frontage road.

The mismatched sections underscore the challenge of orchestrating trail construction across varying terrains through multiple jurisdictions.

"The big expense in trail-building is dealing with utilities and road crossings. People don't tend to think about that," George Cofer, Hill Country Conservancy's founder and interim director, said. "We're going through an urban area, so there's a lot of things that have to be coordinated."

If you found this reporting valuable, please consider making a donation to support it. Your gift pays for everything you find on KUT.org. Thanks for donating today.

Corrected: February 14, 2022 at 11:10 AM CST
A previous version of this story incorrectly said the final segment of trail to the Wildflower Center will be 3 miles long. It will be 1.7 miles long.

The cost of the 1-mile section of trail will be $2.9 million, not $2.8 million as initially reported by the city.
Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion-dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on X @KUTnathan.
Related Content