According to Fox 7, an ambitious plan that shut down Waterloo Park for four years has taken a dramatic turn -- one that will restore the area around Waller Creek as a natural area rather than turn it into a retail and entertainment corridor similar to the San Antonio Riverwalk.
Taxpayers approved $25 million in bond debt in 1998 to allay flooding along Waller Creek. The Austin City Council and Travis County followed with an agenda to turn the flood control project into an economic development opportunity (see the vision of the Waller Creek Conservancy online ... while it lasts).
Work began on the project in 2009. The Capitol "view corridor," championed by Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin), prevented a primary pump house/debris removal station (under construction near the corner of Red River and 12th Street at Waterloo Park) from reaching its full height in 2014. This hampered development on the series of locks and dams necessary to make for an upscale development-friendly creekside.
Now, according to the Fox 7 story, $120 million will be spent to "re-envision" the length of Waller Creek through downtown as more of a natural respite from the cityscape.
(Perhaps now the taxpayer-funded UT medical school can provide some economic boost to the creek area -- known for its homeless camps and urine smell in places.)
You can still see previous attempts at urbanizing the creek, such as various masonry stairways leading down to the creekbed, ornate cement bridges, and Symphony Square adjacent to Serrano's restaurant on Red River Street. The famous Stubb's BBQ Waller Creek Amphitheater is located along the creek, as well.
Utilizing Austin's natural resources to further economic development is a legitimate role of local government. A tunnel cut through solid limestone from Waller Creek to Town Lake will certainly help avoid catastrophes such as the Waller Creek Flood in 2015 -- when 13 inches of rain fell in just six hours causing flood levels to exceed the 2,000-year level.
But how many hundreds of millions of dollars could (and still can be) saved by simply loosening flood plain regulations and allowing free enterprise to do its thing -- with a fair warning that creeks do often rise? Stubb's seems to be doing well.
Or would it be cheaper to just make it a park -- leave it as nature intended -- and hire a few security guards to keep it safe?
A City of Austin document gives us some background on how the now-doomed project developed:
The Waller Creek tunnel project was first included in the May 1998 bond election. An amount of $25,000,000 was approved for the project The purpose of the project was to divert 100-year storm event flows from the lower Waller Creek channel. This would provide flood protection to existing buildings, prevent the flooding of roadway crossings, and reduce the width of the floodplain.
The reduction in floodplain produced by the project would significantly increase the amount of developable land area in the lower Waller Creek watershed.
After the 1998 bond election, the Brown & Root/Espey Padden Joint Venture was selected to review the project and prepared recommendations to meet the original design goals The recommended project provided 100-year storm event flood protection with no out-of-bank or roadway flooding The tunnel would be 22 feet in diameter and approximately 5,000 feet in length. The project originates in Waterloo Park with discharge to Town Lake. A Sabine Street route was recommended.
Significant inlet and outlet structures are required and because the structures are in parkland, aesthetics of the structures are a major consideration.
The inlet structure would include a pond, a cone or morning-glory shaped inlet structure, small dam, access bridge, pump building and significant landscaping enhancements The inlet also includes mechanical screens to ensure operational reliability and a system to pump small quantities of water from the tunnel to the creek. This pumped water will augment the base flow in the creek and by so doing enhance its aesthetic appeal and water quality.
The outlet structure includes a pond, an outlet shaft, and a de-watering pump system. A floating stage will be located on the outlet shaft An outdoor amphitheater will be built on the slopes surrounding the outlet pond.
Since 1998, associated revenues and costs of the project have increased. The cost of the project is estimated at $123.7 million (in June 2006 dollars). The Waller Creek tunnel project would spur economic development throughout downtown, in particular an area where development has lagged the rest of the city. The project would enhance the avilable parkland and trail along the creek by providing amenities in Waterloo Park and on Town Lake and by preventing flooding and implementing erosion control.
Further, the project will increase quality of life by enhancing the quality of water flowing into Town Lake. The project is also expected to improve the connectivity between east and west Austin, and promote tourism by serving as an added attraction for convention and other visitors.Boodoggle or not ... wow! That's a marvel of engineering underneath our fair town:
Give the taxpayers a refund!!!
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