Road closures start Monday near Longhorn Dam for bridge construction

Those traveling along South Pleasant Valley Road near Longhorn Dam will notice some additional traffic closures next week as the City of Austin continues work on its new "wishbone" bridge crossing Lady Bird Lake.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Those traveling along South Pleasant Valley Road near Longhorn Dam will notice some additional traffic closures next week as the City of Austin continues work on its new "wishbone" bridge crossing Lady Bird Lake.

City crews kickstarted construction last month on the Longhorn Dam Multimodal Improvements Project. The new pedestrian and cyclist bridge in development will connect Longhorn Shores to the peninsula and Canterbury Park while bypassing South Pleasant Valley Road. 

Beginning Monday, the westernmost southbound lane along South Pleasant Valley Road will be closed to traffic for several months, the Austin Capital Delivery Services said in an update Friday. Through traffic will still continue in both directions within the eastern lanes of the roadway, the update added.

As part of construction efforts, trail users will be detoured to the east side of South Pleasant Valley Road through the roadway's pedestrian hybrid beacon sidewalk during construction. They will then be re-routed to the northern pedestrian hybrid beacon, located just south of Longhorn Dam.

For roughly the next two years, the sidewalk running along the west side of South Pleasant Valley Road will be closed to foot traffic as part of construction work. Construction timelines could vary due to weather, crews noted.

The upcoming wishbone pedestrian bridge has been years in the making, with city leaders first launching a preliminary engineering report back in 2018 to look into the feasibility of the project. Back in April, Austin City Council approved a nearly $23 million construction contract for the project.

Under current construction timelines, the project is expected to wrap in winter 2026.