The Confluence, a 13-acre park along Waller Creek, officially opens in downtown Austin, reconnecting the city with one of its oldest waterways. The park features restored parkland and creek corridor, three new lattice bridges, boardwalks, and pathways, bringing visitors close to the creek and creating a piece of the Hill Country in downtown.
The Confluence , Waterloo Greenway 's new 13-acre park along Waller Creek , officially opens Saturday, June 6, reconnecting downtown Austin with one of the city's oldest waterways.
On a recent morning beneath the glass towers of downtown Austin, the loudest sounds were not construction crews or traffic. They were birds. A pair of red-shouldered hawks called from the trees above Waller Creek. Water moved steadily over limestone.
Egrets hunted along the banks. For a moment, it was easy to forget that one of the nation's fastest-growing cities was only steps away. This weekend, Waterloo Greenway will open the Confluence, a 13-acre stretch of restored parkland and creek corridor connecting downtown neighborhoods along Waller Creek. The opening marks the latest milestone in a project that has spent more than a decade reimagining one of Austin's oldest and most historically significant waterways.
As the Confluence opens, Austin reconnects with Waller Creek, the historic waterway that helped shape the city nearly two centuries ago. Nature has a way of drawing you in and when you're in The Confluence you really forget that you're in downtown Austin. For much of Austin's history, Waller Creek has existed as both a defining feature and a persistent challenge.
When the Republic of Texas selected Waterloo as the site of its new capital in 1839, the settlement sat between two creeks: Shoal Creek to the west and Waller Creek to the east. Austin has layers of history, and Waller Creek has always been a defining piece of that history. With the opening of the Confluence, Austin is rediscovering Waller Creek, a historic waterway that has shaped the city since 1839.
For decades, city leaders debated what should become of the corridor winding through the center of downtown. John Rigdon, Waterloo Greenway Conservancy's chief planning and design officer, describes Waller Creek as one of the most continuously developed watersheds in the city. That change came with consequences. By the early 21st century, many sections of the creek had become difficult to access and disconnected from daily life.
A turning point arrived with the construction of the Waller Creek Tunnel, a major flood-control project completed by the city. The tunnel redirected floodwaters and created an opportunity that had previously seemed impossible: restoring the creek itself. Three new lattice bridges span the waterway. Boardwalks and pathways bring visitors close to the creek.
Wildflowers bloom among native grasses. The result feels less like a park inserted into downtown than a piece of the Hill Country rediscovered beneath it. We've brought the Hill Country into downtown as our neighbor, Dr. Colette Pierce Burnett, chief executive of Waterloo Greenway Conservancy, said. Yet for all the engineering and landscape design involved, the project's leaders speak most often about people.
Burnett recalls a young visitor telling her she could not remember the last time she had put her feet in grass
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