Built 1942 Added to NRHP July 7, 1994 Total length 201 m Body of water Lady Bird Lake | NRHP Reference # 94000678 Construction started 1940 Opened 1942 | |
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Location Loop 343 (Lamar Boulevard), Austin, Texas, USA Architect Cage Brothers and L. A. Turner Address 343), 78701, 100 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78703, United States Similar Lady Bird Lake, James D Pfluger Pedestria, Montopolis Bridge, Judge Robert Lynn Batt, Frank M and Annie G Covert | ||
The Lamar Boulevard Bridge is a historic bridge carrying Texas State Highway Loop 343 (Lamar Boulevard) over Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, Texas, United States. The bridge features six open spandrel concrete arches spanning 659 feet (201 m) and carries tens of thousands of vehicles daily across the lake. Completed in 1942, the Lamar Boulevard Bridge was the second permanent bridge to cross the Colorado River (after the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge), and one of the last Art Deco-style open-spandrel concrete arch bridges built in Texas. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 1994.
The bridge carries four roadway lanes across Lady Bird Lake and is used heavily; a 2011 study by the Downtown Austin Alliance asserted that the bridge experiences more than twice the traffic volume it was designed for.
Addition of parallel pedestrian bridge
In the 1990s, the bridge became notorious for road accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians. The City of Austin explored possibilities for widening the bridge to add space for non-automotive traffic, but the Texas Historical Commission opposed these proposals out of a desire to preserve the bridge's historic design. This conflict eventually led to the construction of the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge in 2001. Situated 200 feet (61 m) to the east of the Lamar bridge, the pedestrian bridge links the north and south sides of the Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail.