News from Town Lake Trail Foundation

February 2008 Town Lake Trail Foundation | PO Box 5195 | /Austin, TX 78763 | 512.733.3989

Trail Relief Has Arrived!
Please join us on March 19 at 5:30 pm for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at our Trail's newest restroom in almost 30 years. You can find the restroom where Rainey Street dead ends into the Trail area, about a half mile west of I-35 on the north side of Lady Bird Lake next to the Milago Condominiums, and just east of the new Mexican American Cultural Center.

This restroom was made possible by the generous in kind donation of stunning architectural services by Miro Rivera Architects. Significant site work was completed by our partner, the Austin Parks and Recreation Department. Major financial support was provided by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and the Moody Foundation. The Town Lake Trail Foundation provided additional funding and project management.

Trip-and-Fall Lights Now at the Trail Downtown

Installation of low-level trip-and-fall light fixtures is now being completed by the City of Austin in the downtown Trail area. Look for the 16 very small lights in the darkest stretches between the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge and the Mexican American Cultural Center. TLTF and the City Parks and Recreation Department collaborated on this project using criteria developed as part of TLTF's solar pilot project in the Zilker Trail area. This pilot demonstrated that the Trail's trip-and-fall hazard areas can be improved in an aesthetically and environmentally sensitive manner. As a result of both the positive feedback from the TLTF Zilker pilot lights and TLTF's development of location and fixture criteria, the City is now completing limited trip and fall lighting in some of the dark spots of the downtown section of the Trail.

This low-level lighting will extend the useable hours of the Trail, especially in the winter months. The lights are on timers and will be consistent with the curfew. We will continue to work to install lighting in Trail areas only where we find both a tripping hazard and an absence of ambient light. For all of us pre-dawn and post-dusk Trail users, the new trip-and-fall lights will be a welcome safety improvement!

AMS Austin Laces up Their Sneakers for TLTF Video Premiere
On March 20 at 6 pm, AMS Production Group will host a premiere party for the new TLTF video celebrating Austin's beloved Trail. The new video, produced pro bono by AMS, features scenic vistas of the Trail, historic photos, and interviews with people throughout the community who enjoy and support the Trail. TLTF will use the video to promote awareness, boost membership and raise funds.

Recommended attire for the premiere is athletic wear and sneakers.
AMS Production Group is located at 4407 Bee Caves Road, Bld 6.
To RSVP for the party, email [email protected]

A Warm Welcome to the Class of 2008 Garden Adopters
Fourteen new adopters snapped up all but one of the available gardens at the February 2nd Lady Bird Johnson Adopt-a-Garden auction, bringing the total number of adopted gardens to thirty. Two of the new adopters, Matt Turner and Paul Waller of the Austin Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas, are collaborating on an all Texas native garden for their planter on the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge. Watch for their garden installation later this spring.

RVi Celebrates 25 Years with Donation to TLTF

In December RVi announced its donation of a long-term vision plan for the Town Lake Trail at Lady Bird Lake. To celebrate the news, Austin Mayor Will Wynn and City Council Member Mike Martinez met with RVi President Bob Richardson, Principal Barbara Austin and Susan Rankin, ED of the Town Lake Trail Foundation, for a walk on the Trail. "I'm excited that there seems to be the momentum to focus on the trail and that RVi is willing to take a broader, more global look at what the trail can be," Mayor Wynn said. We appreciate RVi's generous donation which will help guide the Trail and the TLTF into the future.