dc.title: Bridging the creek: an evaluation of the 2019 Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt Community Master Plan and recommendations for implementation dc.description.abstract: The Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt is a 206-acre public park in East Austin, Texas, one of the largest greenbelts in the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department's inventory. Despite its size and proximity to several residential neighborhoods, the greenbelt has remained largely underutilized since the City of Austin acquired it in 2003. In January 2019, the Pecan Springs-Springdale Hills Neighborhood Association, in partnership with Asakura Robinson and the National Park Service, adopted a Community Master Plan to guide future improvements and investment. More than seven years later, most of that plan remains unimplemented. 6 This report serves as an addendum to the 2019 Community Master Plan, evaluating its recommendations and proposing two targeted interventions to advance implementation. The first is the construction of a pedestrian bridge crossing Little Walnut Creek to connect the greenbelt with the University Hills neighborhood on its northern edge. While the 2019 plan acknowledged this connection as a long-term aspiration, it did not advance it as a priority. This report argues that a bridge is the most impactful near-term investment available, given severe constraints on parking expansion and the rapid residential growth occurring in University Hills. Using original GIS fieldwork conducted with ArcGIS Field Maps, I surveyed six City of Austin-owned parcels along the northern creek bank, identified a suitable crossing location, and modeled the benefits of a new entrance. The analysis finds that a bridge could bring the greenbelt within a 15-minute walk of more than 600 additional residents. The second recommendation addresses wayfinding. The 2019 plan called for a comprehensive internal signage system, but no official wayfinding exists today beyond rudimentary lawn signs covering fewer than half of the greenbelt's trails. This report recommends publishing a complete trail map via QR codes on park signage and through the official PARD website, leveraging existing crowd-sourced data from platforms such as Strava and Trailforks as an interim resource. Together, these recommendations offer a practical, equity-grounded path toward activating one of East Austin's most underutilized public open spaces.