Woodland Avenue Lost Its Underpass, and the Lake Loop Changed With It

At the north end of Travis Heights, Blunn Creek runs out to Riverside Drive. From the sidewalk there you can step onto the Lady Bird Lake boardwalk, which the City lists as one of its official access points. The boardwalk runs 7,250 feet along the south shore. It took from October 2012 to early June 2014 to build, and it was the link that turned the south side of the lake into a continuous trail.

That entrance is still open. Two connections east of it have changed this year, though. Woodland Avenue under I-35 closed permanently to cars in January. Then in February, the pedestrian crossing on the east side of the I-35 lake bridge closed as well. So this winter, a lake loop from Travis Heights crosses the water west of the highway or a mile and a half east at Longhorn Dam. TxDOT's long-term replacement at Woodland is a bridge for people walking and riding bikes. No cars.

The two closures that moved the loop

According to KUT's January report, drivers who used Woodland Avenue to get under I-35 just south of downtown "will never be able to cross the highway there again." Starting the week of February 9, 2026, The Trail Conservancy closed the east-side I-35 pedestrian crossing so TxDOT could build the new Lady Bird Lake bridge. Trail users can no longer cross between the north and south shores on the east side of the highway.

Here is where each nearby connection stands as of early November 2026, according to TxDOT's Lady Bird Lake segment page, The Trail Conservancy, and the City's parks closures page:

When the east-side crossing closed in February, The Trail Conservancy expected it to stay closed for about a year. TxDOT's project page lists the existing east pedestrian path as closed through 2029. Under either timeline, crossings this winter happen on the west side of I-35 or farther away.

Crossing on the west side of the highway

The crossing closest to most of Travis Heights is now the sidewalk on the west side of the southbound frontage-road bridge. Community Impact reported in July that pedestrians get to it using temporary signals at Manlove Street and Edgecliff Terrace. The Trail Conservancy confirms that the west-side I-35 sidewalk stayed open when the east side closed.

The Riverside interchange is being rebuilt around that route, one phase at a time. TxDOT plans to turn Riverside Drive at I-35 into a single-point urban interchange. The design handles more vehicles with fewer signal phases and fewer places where traffic crosses paths. The fact sheet for the project lays out the stages, all marked subject to change:

1. Mid-2026: build the new north side of the Riverside bridge. Community Impact reported that this work began July 15, 2026, when southbound frontage-road traffic moved to a bypass lane with a temporary signal.
2. Mid-2027: rebuild the middle of the intersection.
3. 2028 to 2033: tear down the existing bridge, build its south side, and switch traffic over to the new interchange.

Drivers lost the Woodland underpass in January. Community Impact reports that drivers now use frontage-road U-turns at Riverside Drive or Oltorf Street instead. Those U-turns run on the same frontage road that walkers and cyclists cross at the temporary signals.

For people who would rather cross away from the construction, The Trail Conservancy suggests the South Congress crossing. Auditorium Shores, at 700 W. Riverside Dr., has a restroom on The Trail Conservancy's list, and its accessible trail map shows Congress Avenue Bridge and Auditorium Shores as trailheads.

Getting onto the boardwalk this winter

Travis Heights is closest to the boardwalk. The City lists these access points:

• The Riverside Drive sidewalk at Blunn Creek
• The northeast corner of the American-Statesman parking lot
• The northeast corner of Riverside Drive and I-35, where the ramp is closed through 2029 and the staircase stays open apart from occasional construction closures
• International Shores Park, 1820 S. Lakeshore Blvd., which also has a restroom on The Trail Conservancy's list

For driving to the trail, the City points to street parking along S. Lakeshore Blvd. between Pleasant Valley Road and Riverside Drive.

The boardwalk is open, but the area near the highway has changed. TxDOT closed the south-shore boardwalk at I-35 for a full week, scheduled for October 12 through 18, to build the new pedestrian bridge. The Trail Conservancy says part of the boardwalk will have limited access through early 2027 while that bridge goes up east of I-35, and trail users can still pass under the I-35 bridge. TxDOT's rules allow three full closures of the trail and waterway near the bridge each year, each lasting no more than a week, plus nightly closures and occasional closures as construction requires. The Trail Conservancy keeps its detours page up to date. Check it before a long run.

The Wishbone Bridge is now the east end of the loop

The Trail Conservancy's other suggested crossing is newer than the I-35 closure. The Wishbone Bridge and Unity Underpass opened at a ribbon-cutting on February 7, 2026, two days before the week the east-side I-35 crossing closed.

According to the City, the bridge connects the Butler Trail at Longhorn Shores, Canterbury, and the Holly Peninsula. It closes a gap in the trail at Longhorn Dam, so walkers no longer have to use the Pleasant Valley Road sidewalk. The Unity Underpass runs under Pleasant Valley Road. It is 30 feet wide, 16 feet tall, and 165 feet long, with better drainage and lighting. The bridge's plaza has 14 "maraca benches," and 17 more are planned over the next two years. The City says the project completes a traffic-free 10-mile loop.

So from Travis Heights, there is a full eastern loop that never touches the I-35 work zone. You head east along the boardwalk past International Shores, cross at Longhorn Dam on the Wishbone, and come back along the north shore. The north shore does have its own construction: TxDOT's detour along the south side of East Avenue near I-35 is expected to stay in place until 2033. In fall 2025, The Trail Conservancy remeasured the whole trail to include the Wishbone Bridge and the Holly Shores Lakefront Trail. The updated distances are on the trail's mile markers and welcome-sign maps.

What replaces the Woodland underpass

The Woodland changes have a planned endpoint. TxDOT's segment plan includes a pedestrian-only bridge over I-35 at Woodland Avenue, along with bike and pedestrian paths along the corridor. KUT reported that TxDOT planned to open temporary U-turns at Woodland and I-35 in March. Those U-turns will eventually close and be replaced by the pedestrian bridge, with construction starting as soon as 2029.

According to KUT, the bridge will be 75 feet wide and carry people walking and riding bikes over I-35. TxDOT will pay for it. The Austin City Council turned down a separate proposal for a 300-foot bridge that would have cost at least $15 million.

That puts the Woodland timeline in three stages. Through January 2026, it was a car underpass. From 2026 until construction starts, there is no crossing there at all. After that, it becomes a crossing only for people on foot and on bikes. TxDOT expects the Lady Bird Lake segment to be finished in 2033, weather permitting. Until the Woodland bridge opens, the boardwalk entrance at Blunn Creek and the signals at Manlove and Edgecliff Terrace are how Travis Heights gets to the lake.

Construction phases like these affect the daily routes people take, and they also come up whenever a home near the corridor changes hands. If you are weighing what the Riverside and Woodland timelines mean for a home on your street, Judith Bundschuh is glad to walk through the dates with you. Let's Connect.