On June 16, 2001, Austin celebrated the grand opening of the James D. Pfluger Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge, spanning Lady Bird Lake -- well, Town Lake in those days, as longtime locals will berate you in various comment sections -- directly east of the Lamar Boulevard bridge. This new car-free thoroughfare offered non-drivers a safer passage across the lake than was possible on the narrow sidewalks and shallow curbs of the increasingly congested Lamar bridge, the site of a number of fatalities including the death of cyclist Chris Kern at the hands of a drunk driver in 1991 . . .
