Congress Avenue Bat Bridge
You're standing on the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, a concrete arch with three lanes in each direction and sidewalks on both sides, crossing Lady Bird Lake. Until the Longhorn Dam was finished in 1960, the water beneath you was simply the Colorado River; the lake is that river held back. A bridge has carried Congress Avenue across here since the late 19th century, and in November 2006 the City Council renamed this one for Ann Richards, the 45th Governor of Texas and a longtime Austin resident.
The reason everyone calls it the Bat Bridge lives under the deck: the world's largest urban bat colony, a maternity colony where the females raise their young. The bridge is open around the clock and costs nothing, so walk along both sidewalks and take in the lake in both directions.
Walk into downtown to Sixth Street: 980 m, about 14 minutes.
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