Waller Creek Greenbelt

Waller Creek cuts a limestone channel through the heart of downtown Austin, marked by high concrete walls and a trail that dips below street level. For decades, the creek bed sat stagnant and prone to flash flooding, treated by city planners as a dangerous drainage ditch rather than an urban asset. In the nineteen seventies, city engineer Tom Arbuckle proposed the tunnel system that now diverts floodwaters beneath the city, finally allowing the ground-level trail to host walkers instead of constant debris.