The Shoal Creek Trail Is Changing on Both Sides of Bryker Woods
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
The Shoal Creek Trail runs about four miles, from Lady Bird Lake up to 38th Street. Bryker Woods sits near its northern end. This fall that puts the neighborhood between two work zones. To the south, the City is still repairing and connecting the trail through Pease Park and along North Lamar. To the north, construction started in August on a tunnel under RM 2222 that won't open until next summer. The stretch in between, past Seiders Springs, is closest to home, and it has no money set aside to build it out.
Taking the trail one piece at a time from south to north shows how this works out for an evening walk or a Saturday ride.
The newest part of the trail runs along North Lamar between 29th and 31st streets. The City started construction there in November 2025 and expected it to take about a year. It was finished in July 2026, three months early, according to the Shoal Creek Conservancy's project page. The segment includes a 12-foot-wide urban trail on the west side of Lamar and a new 10-foot-wide terracotta bike path. The plan also called for a southbound left-turn lane at 29th Street and a new pedestrian crossing on the north side of 31st Street. The City and the Conservancy celebrated its completion on August 22.
That stretch extends work from earlier phases. A 12-foot shared-use path from the Shoal Creek Boulevard and North Lamar intersection south to the rock hop just north of 24th Street opened in January 2025. Heading south from Bryker Woods, Lamar is now much better for walking and biking than it was a year ago.
The trail through Pease Park between Shoal Creek Boulevard and the Janet Fish Bridge has been closed since April 27 for resurfacing. The section from Gaston Avenue to the Janet Fish Bridge, just south of 29th Street, had been in poor shape for years. It had rough surfaces and manhole covers that were hard to get around, so it was one of the missing links in an all-ages, all-abilities route.
The City first expected to finish in late June. The Conservancy's trail closures page says permitting delays and crew availability pushed that back, and it now estimates November 2026. The Austin Parks and Recreation closures list gives the same April 27 to November window, and that entry was last updated September 9. Because November is only an estimate, check that page before heading down. Until it reopens, the detour is the sidewalk on the west side of North Lamar between Shoal Creek Boulevard and 29th Street.
Farther south there's an older detour that hasn't changed. Landslides in May 2018 and May 2019 left debris blocking the creek and trail from roughly 26th to 27th Street. People on foot and bikes use the paved sidewalk on the east side of the creek along North Lamar. That site is part of the City's South Gap segment, which is still in design.
So the trail south of Bryker Woods is going through two kinds of change. The Lamar sidewalk route keeps improving and is ahead of schedule. The creekside route, the reason most people walk Shoal Creek at all, is running late.
Crews are now working on the other side of the neighborhood. In August the City began building a trail underpass beneath RM 2222, also called FM 2222 or Northland Drive, at Shoal Creek Boulevard. The Conservancy expects work to continue through summer 2027.
The underpass will be a 12-foot-wide urban trail under 2222. It connects the on-street bikeways along Shoal Creek Boulevard to the existing parkland nature trail. The design also includes tunnel lighting and stormwater infrastructure. The City Council contract action set a construction award of $3,061,232 plus a $306,124 contingency, for a total of no more than $3,367,356.
During construction, trail use at 2222 is restricted and the detour runs along Shoal Creek Boulevard. Expect occasional trail detours and some vehicle lane closures. For anyone in Bryker Woods who drives Shoal Creek Boulevard or bikes north toward Allandale, those lane closures will matter more this winter than any trail detour.
Between those two work zones is the part of the creek closest to home. Seiders Springs Park, at 1380 West 34th Street, is split by 34th Street. The historic springs are north of the road. South of it, large live oaks shade a gazebo and outdoor classroom. The Conservancy places Seiders Springs on the creek's east bank between 34th and 38th streets. It describes historic seeps and two springs, north and south, feeding a wetland. The northern spring almost always runs, and the southern one is intermittent.
This piece of the trail isn't in line for construction. The City's Shoal Creek Trail connectivity gaps page lists a North Gap from West 31st to West 34th Street. Money has been found for preliminary engineering of a parkland trail there, but none for building it. The segments south of 31st Street got crews and bond-funded contracts. The segment linking them to Bryker Woods has drawings in progress and nothing more.
The Conservancy has two dates at the springs this season:
The workday is two days after this post goes up, and it's the easiest way to see the springs up close with people who look after them.
Two places near the trail have changed recently. A short walk west, Ramsey Neighborhood Park at 4301 Rosedale Avenue unveiled its finished renovations at an August 28 ribbon cutting. Community Impact reported new shade over the swings, new safety surfacing and new play equipment. To the east, Local Foods opened its 38th and Lamar location at 3800 North Lamar Boulevard, Suite 170, on August 21, according to Community Impact. It sits right where the trail's northern section meets Lamar.
Even with the creekside trail closed, Pease Park stays busy, and the Pease Park Conservancy calendar has plenty on it through mid-December. Most of it is at Kingsbury Commons, which you can reach by the Lamar detour.
Volunteers can sign up for recurring shifts at Kingsbury Commons. November dates include Foliage Fridays on November 13 and Morning Garden Care Saturday on November 14.
Plan December 5 with the map in mind. The Seiders Springs ecology tour and the youth ride at Pease Park both start at 9 a.m., so it's one or the other. Depending on when the Pease Park resurfacing wraps up, the route between them may be the creekside trail or the Lamar sidewalk.
If you're thinking about how creek access, trail connections or construction timelines affect the value and daily rhythm of a central Austin home, Jeannie Garr would be glad to go through it with you, street by street. Schedule a consultation whenever it suits you.
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