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Waterloo Greenway gets $9M grant for community greenspace in Austin

Leaders are calling it a historic grant.

AUSTIN, Texas — As crews prepare to break ground on the second phase of the Waterloo Greenway in the heart of Downtown Austin, the City of Austin is announcing a "historic" federal grant to fund it.

On Monday, April 25, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy and the City of Austin a $9 million grant for the green space. It's part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The Waterloo Park in Downtown Austin opened to the public late last year after it was completed in the summer.

The money will help build "The Confluence," which is the second phase of the plan to create a 1.5-mile park system in Downtown Austin. Specifically, the money will bring 1,550 trees, 200,000 plants and 10 acres of seed mixes. The Waterloo Greenway conservancy is touting that the greenery will "improve downtown air quality, improve ecosystem functions, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce the urban heat island effect."

This phase of the project also features 12 new connections between Fourth Street and the hike-and-bike trail. It will also be an effort to restore the banks of Waller Creek.

Crews are scheduled to break ground on the second phase in late 2022.

The funding was announced at a press conference Monday morning with Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Mayor Steve Adler, the Waterloo Greenway CEO and representatives from the Watershed Protection Department and Parks and Recreation Department present.

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