Austin to vote on trail funds to transform abandoned railroad tracks

Editor's note: The above video is KXAN coverage of the Bergstrom Spur Trail from Jan. 10, 2025.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin City Council will vote this week on funding for a new trail that will transform abandoned rail tracks and bridge the southern portion of the city with the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

The Bergstrom Spur Trail is a 6.5-mile-long trail system set to link Vinson Drive in south Austin to East Riverside Drive and U.S. Hwy. 183 in southeast Austin, according to details from Austin's Capital Delivery Services. The city's 2014 Urban Trails Plan identified the Bergstrom Spur Trail as "a high-priority project" with the capability of boosting connectivity, improving local trail access and offering a route to walk or bike to the airport, per project documents.

On Thursday, Austin City Council will consider two items related to advanced funding agreements with the Texas Department of Transportation for the trail. The first is a change order for the central portion of the project, with that funding additive capped at "$86,805, plus any cost overruns." That funding would be pulled from the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department's operating budget, per council documents.

The second is an advanced funding agreement for the western portion of the trail, noting the agreement with TxDOT is "not to exceed $308,600, plus any cost overruns." ATPWD's operating budget is also the funding source for these dollars, council documents confirmed.

City officials told KXAN earlier this month work on the western portion of the trail is already under construction and is set to be complete this summer.

“We are going to get that first half mile constructed in the next four to six months or so, and then that will set us up to start construction on the next phase,” John Eastman, the city of Austin's sidewalks and urban trails division manager, told KXAN.

The total cost for all three segments is estimated at $25 million, with a project construction timeline running through 2027. Eastman confirmed officials are still working to acquire funds for the eastern portion of the project.