The city of Austin implemented a new detour route along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail at Waller Creek on Aug. 26 as construction on the trail’s original path will last for the next two months, according to a press release from the city.

The construction consists of a third pedestrian bridge spanning over Waller Creek as part of the Waterloo Greenway’s redesign project called The Confluence, according to the press release. The lattice bridge will be eight to 12 feet wide and cross over Waller Creek.

According to the press release, this marks the second phase of the project, which aims to improve the creek’s health. Ana Seivert, The Confluence project manager, said the goal is to add native plants in the creek banks to restabilize the soil, including bald cypress trees and other native Texan riparian trees. 

“When we’re putting more plants in creek areas, we’re able to protect the creek from erosion and ensure creek health as much as possible,” Seivert said.

Kristin Pipkin, project management supervisor for the city’s Watershed Protection department, the sponsoring city program, said the project focuses on different ways to mend the creek’s water. 

“We’re looking at ways to create more complexity in the creek itself, because our ecological friends and the animals that live in the creeks, don’t live under just one type of water,” Pipkin said. “We’re looking at ways to create those changes within the creek itself, so it feels and is more of a natural creek system.”

Communications senior Martin Salmi said he volunteers to clean the creek on the weekends. He said he noticed the creek’s pollution and hopes this project properly accommodates the wildlife in the area.

“Any sort of attention to Waller Creek (and) where it’s at right now is a good thing,” Salmi said.

Waller Creek’s urban location caused most of the water pollution, Pipkin said. The high levels of bacteria found in the watershed pose a health risk, she said. 

“It is the water that our local aquatic life lives in,” Pipkin said. “Sustainability comes with being integrated and part of the natural environment.”