AUSTIN (KXAN) — Permanent safety changes along Austin’s Rainey Street near Lady Bird Lake are set to come in under budget, and work will begin on the remaining improvements between now and July.
Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) announced the plans for the permanent changes last July, and said the plan was to have the project completed by this summer.
These permanent changes include lighting, fences and a sidewalk extension.
The city already installed “immediate temporary infrastructure” as part of this safety plan in March 2023, a week after friends and family members of people who went missing and/or died near the trail spoke at an Austin City Council Public Safety Committee meeting. These loved ones called for additional safety measures like lighting and surveillance cameras on the trail.
Below is a list of the status of the permanent improvements at Rainey Street, provided by PARD.
- Camera at corner of Rainey and Cummings Streets installed in November 2023.
- Permitting for the lighting installation and sidewalk extension took place this spring
- Installation of lighting along the trail and along East Ave is in progress and slated to be complete by end of June.
- Contracting for the sidewalk extension work is underway. The work will take place in July.
- Contracting for additional fence improvements is complete and will start in June. The split rail fence that was installed in 2023 will be extended in multiple locations. There will also be a gate added to the top of the stairs across from the Milago.
“We love safety. We’re on board with that,” said Bob DiPasquale, who we spoke to with his wife Brette McLellan. “Bring on the light, because that makes it safer for us to walk the dogs.”
Rainey Street Trailhead project update
The Rainey Street Trailhead project is in a similar area, but run by The Trail Conservancy.
Charlotte Tonsor, executive projects director for The Trail Conservancy, said it should be done by July.
The project includes a revamp of the green space between Cummings Street, East Avenue and the river trail. See the map below.
Brainstorming and public input on the project began in 2019.
“Letting people see a landscape that functions so much better ecologically and to see that and have the beauty of the native grass and wildflowers, and to educate people about that too is just exciting,” Tonsor said.
Police say no foul play involved in recent deaths in Lady Bird Lake
This year, crews pulled two bodies from Lady Bird Lake – one near City Hall, and another near the Longhorn Dam. Authorities said the person found near City Hall was a woman. Police, at this point, are not ruling either of them a homicide. Another body was found near the lake.
Eleven bodies have been found in the lake since the beginning of 2022. One case involved a shooting and a car crash that happened near the water, and was considered an isolated incident. Police are not investigating any of the other cases as homicides, and say there is “no connection” between the cases and police have said public murmurings about a serial killer being involved are inaccurate.
Recently, an article has circulated depicting a scenario where a man claims someone pushed him off of the West Sixth Street Bridge in June 2023. The man referred to the individual who pushed him as a “serial killer.”
KXAN looked into the case, obtaining the CAD call for the incident. It states a man fell off the bridge and that it was “accidental.” According to the CAD call, he was conscious, breathing and alert, and initially refused EMS treatment. Austin-Travis County EMS said he was alert and speaking with medics, and the agency ultimately took him to the hospital with serious injuries.
The Austin Police Department said the man did not file a police report related to this incident.
The West Sixth Street Bridge is over Shoal Creek, not Lady Bird Lake.
KXAN has reached out to the man involved in the incident via email, phone and social media. We will update this story if we hear back.