Take this survey to help revamp an exercise station on the Butler Trail

Take this survey to help revamp an exercise station on the Butler Trail

The existing fitness station on West Riverside Drive will be revamped. Photo courtesy The Trail Foundation


A row of pullup bars, some benches, a drinking fountain and an outdoor shower occupy a patch of ground adjacent to the Butler Trail near Zach Theatre. A puddle often forms around the shower, and the space – well, it just doesn’t look all that inviting.
But The Trail Foundation and the Austin Parks and Recreation Department plan to revamp the fitness area, located on West Riverside Drive, and they’re asking for the public’s help in planning it.
The new exercise station will feature exercise equipment, visual guides to show how to use it, new native plants and shade trees, a limestone seating wall, a new drinking fountain and bike racks, and a concrete ribbon curb to separate the area from the trail.
Two virtual community engagement opportunities are planned. An online survey to pick between two options for exercise equipment is open until Sept. 1.

The first option features a “bamboo jungle” and other equipment. Illustration courtesy The Trail Foundation


The second option features multi-use stations. Illustration courtesy The Trail Foundation


One option features pushup bars, pullup bars, a bamboo jungle (so cool!), a workout bench and parallel bars. The second features steps, and arm bike, a link-suspension trainer/core twist and magnetic bell, and parallel bars. To see schematic drawings of both options, and to take the survey, go to https://thetrailfoundation.org/portfolio/butler-shores-exercise-equipment-community-engagement/.
An online video meeting will be held later this fall to summarize community input and present the chosen equipment design.
The $500,000 project is scheduled for completion in 2022. To make a donation to help fund it, go to www.thetrailfoundation.org.

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The Trail Foundation: Please don’t use the Butler Hike and Bike Trail right now

The Trail Foundation: Please don’t use the Butler Hike and Bike Trail right now

The Trail Foundation is discouraging people from using the Butler Hike and Bike Trail right now. Pam LeBlanc photo

Technically, the Butler Hike and Bike Trail remains open, but please don’t go there.

That’s the message today from Heidi Anderson, the executive director of The Trail Foundation, the non-profit organization that works to maintain and protect the beloved loop around Lady Bird Lake.

The foundation sent out an email blast recommending that trail users exercise closer to home and “let the trail rest,” noting that it’s impossible to practice social distancing – a spacing of at least 6 feet between humans – on some sections of the trail.

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Trail users have not been practicing proper social distancing recently, according to The Trail Foundation. Pam LeBlanc file photo

f you do decide to use the trail (and please don’t), the organization recommends warning others of your presence by calling out “on your left” when you pass people, and stepping aside when someone zooms by you. Before and after visiting the trail, wash your hands and use hand sanitizer.

Exercise stations along the trail are closed, and while restrooms and water fountains remain open for now, the public is discouraged from using them.

According to The Trail Foundation, trail usage has not decreased in the last two weeks, and too many users are not practicing social distancing.

Not sure how to maintain your fitness without Austin’s favorite running and walking trail? Go for a walk or run in your neighborhood. Tune into an online workout. (Camp Gladiator is live-streaming free fitness sessions, and Peleton is offering new users a free 90-day subscription to its app, no bike needed.) Go for a bike ride close to home, or get to work yanking weed and trimming overgrown plants in your garden.

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The Trail Foundation’s fund-raiser, Twilight on the Trail, set for Nov. 3

The Trail Foundation’s fund-raiser, Twilight on the Trail, set for Nov. 3

This year’s Twilight on the Trail fund-raiser and (semi) gala, is set for Nov. 3 at the Four Seasons. Photo courtesy The Trail Foundation.

I plod down its gravel expanse every weekend, and wheel a bike along its curves and bridges at least a couple of times a week.

Like many folks who live in Austin, I think of the Butler Hike and Bike Trail as an extension of my backyard. I stop on the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge to admire a sunset, look down the tunnel of green when I’m running alongside Barton Creek and use it as a vantage point to take in incredible views of the ever-changing Austin skyline.

I’m not alone. The trail gets more than 2.6 million visits every year.

On Nov. 3, The Trail Foundation will celebrate its work in protecting, maintaining and enhancing that trail at the Twilight on the Trail celebration at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Not familiar with the foundation’s work? Credit them for creation of the boardwalk underneath Interstate 35, the observation deck below the Ann Richards-Congress Avenue Bridge and native plantings all along the 10-mile loop around Lady Bird Lake. Now in its 16thyear, the organization needs funds for its next round of projects, including improvements at Drake Bridge (First Street), a new trailhead at Rainey Street and a restroom at Festival Beach.

That’s what the Nov. 3 event is all about. Dress is trail style – dresses or suits on top and running shoes on the bottom. (I stepped out in a dress and sneakers last year.) The party begins on the lawn behind the hotel and moves into the ballroom for dinner, drinks and entertainment.

The event is scheduled for 5-8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3 at The Four Seasons Hotel Austin, 98 San Jacinto Boulevard. Tables and a limited number of individual tickets are on sale at https://thetrailfoundation.org/twilight-on-the-trail/ .

 

 

 

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