Here’s How the Waterloo Greenway’s Second Phase Transforms Waller Creek

A view of the Confluence project’s planned improvements along Waller Creek near the Austin Convention Center at Cesar Chavez and Red River Streets. Image: Waterloo Greenway

This morning, the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy celebrates the official groundbreaking of The Confluence, the second phase of its project in partnership with the city to create a linear urban park along the path of Waller Creek through downtown Austin. Formerly known as the Waller Delta, the $91.5 million Confluence plan will transform approximately 13 acres along the creek from Fourth Street south to the creek’s outlet at Lady Bird Lake near the Rainey Street District.

A map of the Confluence section of the Waterloo Greenway plan along Waller Creek. Image: Waterloo Greenway

This second piece of the Waterloo Greenway plan, following the completion of the upgraded Waterloo Park in 2021, will further the conservancy’s goal of providing more than 1.5 miles of pedestrian and bike trails and a number of public green spaces along the path of the creek through downtown, restoring the creek’s urban ecosystem to address erosion and flooding. The Confluence section of the project alone will add 1,500 trees and approximately 200,000 mature plants along this corridor, with close-up views of the restored creek and its tree canopy made possible with a boardwalk-style trail bringing users closer to the water near Cesar Chavez Street, along with three suspension bridges crossing the lush Waller delta region near the lake.

To mark the groundbreaking of this new phase, the Waterloo Greenway has shared views of the creek’s current conditions at different locations along the Confluence region, along with renderings of the completed project — so we’re giving you the opportunity to compare these views below to see what the plan has in store: