This site is dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of one of Austin's best places to bicycle and skate - The Veloway.
Veloway Events Schedule: The trail is open daily from dawn to dusk. There are no events on the closure schedule for the rest of 2011.
Saturday, March 5, 2011 was It's My Park Day. Volunteers cleared drainage channels to keep the track free of standing water, planted drought and heat tolerant plants, and picked up trash. The new plants look great!
Cyclists have noticed the large amount of clearing of the land to the south of the Veloway. This is a major restoration project of a major portion of the Wildflower Center to native trees and grasses. The centerpiece for this project will be a new arboretum. For a detailed plan, see www.wildflower.org.
Construction is complete on a new shaded seating structure near the water fountain. Drainage improvements are allowing the Veloway to be used much sooner after heavy downpours. Volunteers have re-painted much of the center stripe. Bike racks have been added. A sign at the street! Cosmetic shielding of the toilets. Thanks to all who have made these improvements possible!
More news regarding in-line skating activities and maintenance issues can be found at www.hillcountryinlineclub.com .The Veloway is southwest Austin's first trail exclusively for bicycles and rollerblading. Located on more than 100 acres in the Slaughter Creek Metropolitan Park, the Veloway is a 3.1 mile paved asphalt loop 23 feet wide.
The Veloway has controversial roots.
One of Austin's prized natural features is a spring fed pool known as Barton Springs. Barton Springs is filled year round with almost unbearably cold water and has provided a much needed respite from our brutal summers for thousands of years. The watershed that feeds the aquifer that fills the Springs is a relatively attractive rolling land with small trees and brush.
Only sparsely developed in the early 80's, the land in southwest Austin above the aquifer became the target of development, some chaotic and some well-planned. One of the best planned developments created during the boom years of the 80's was Circle C. The mastermind behind Circle C is Gary Bradley, who is either the devil incarnate or the most forward thinking community creator to ever live in Texas.
Circle C incorporated many unique features for its time, including a wonderful swimming facility, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and the Veloway. Much to the consternation of the road cyclists of Austin, public money that had been earmarked for creation of urban bike lanes was diverted to help fund Gary Bradley's bike path way out in the middle of nowhere serving his subdivision's residents, who weren't even in the city limits at the time.
Fast-forward 15 years and you'll find the Veloway becoming surrounded by development. The rapid loss of bike friendly roads makes its existence seem most fortunate, even to those who pooh pooh the idea of riding a short 3 mile loop over and over again. A decision was made a while back to allow the rollerbladers to legally use the facility ... they now comprise about half the users. The City of Austin repaved the Veloway in 2004. We are alarmed at the deterioration of the pavement surface, and hope the city will add a protective topping before the pavement becomes dangerous again.
Thus, a combination of optimistic investors, over-reaching developers, political opportunists, and creative visionaries gave the citizens of Austin a great recreational resource that, unfortunately, might outlive our constantly threatened Barton Springs.
For more details and probably some important corrections of folklore, you'll need to do some research, perhaps searching the records of the Austin American Statesman (www.statesman.com) and the Austin Chronicle (www.auschron.com).
Veloway.com is a personal web site with no affiliation with the City of Austin or any other organization.
Veloway.com webmaster: Lansing Pugh. To contact, please email lansing <then type the normal at sign > lansingpugh.com