The Shoal Creek Trail through Pease park has been blocked by debris from two major landslides that occurred in 2018 and 2019. After years of advocacy with the City of Austin from Shoal Creek Conservancy (SCC) and Pease Park Conservancy (PPC), the debris and trail closure remain. Though this is a complex issue, PPC, SCC, and Pemberton Heights Neighborhood Association (PHNA) agree that it remains an important priority to work with the City to provide a safe, accessible restoration of this area of the park and the trail that serves it.

Plans are underway to improve the eastern urban trail along Lamar, but this does not address any restoration on the west side. Shouldn’t a solution be found that can address both trails?

In March of 2023, PPC and SCC wrote a letter to Mayor Kirk Watson and the Austin City Council (below) requesting a rapid solution to this long-standing public safety and connectivity problem. As of September 2024, no action has been taken for the western trail.

Restore Shoal Creek Trail Connectivity at the 26th Street Landslide
To: Mayor Watson and Austin City Council Members

We respectfully request that Council take expeditious action to resolve the longstanding public safety and connectivity issues caused by the 2018 and 2019 landslide events along the Shoal Creek Trail.

Shoal Creek Landslides
Major landslides along the Shoal Creek Trail in Pease Park occurred in May 2018 and May 2019 causing significant damage to public and private property. The resulting debris has blocked the Creek and Trail from approximately 26th to 27th Street. Almost six years after the initial landslide event, the Creek and Trail remain blocked. This situation has raised several major issues of public interest:

• Loss of trail system connectivity in our citywide active transportation network

• Lack of access to parkland where park users are directed to detour around the landslide site

• Continuing threat of another landslide event presented by the pile of landslide debris

• Rapid erosion of the Creek’s eastern bank caused by landslide debris rerouting the Creek flow, which undermines recently installed bank reinforcements

Efforts to identify a solution have been on pause for a number of years due to ongoing legal action between the City of Austin and private property owners. We urge the City to:

• Expedite the resolution of this litigation so that the City may resume exploration of design and engineering solutions to the creek, trail, and parkland blockages

• Dedicate sufficient cross-departmental funding in the upcoming budget to implement a solution that restores access to the Shoal Creek Trail and impacted parkland on the west side of Shoal Creek

• While Watershed repairs the retaining wall on the eastern side of the creek, remove rubble from the creekbed to improve Shoal Creek waterflow

What You Can Do to Help
We ask that community members:

• Contact Mayor Kirk Watson (kirk.watson@austintexas.gov) and your City Council Member to highlight the importance of access on the west side of Shoal Creek

• If you live close to or enjoy Pease Park, organize your neighborhood group to contact the Mayor’s office or your City Council Member

• Ask for support and funding for a connection to the western trail and Pease Park

• If you see our signs near the landslide, post them on social media to spread the word or share this blogpost