After body found in Lady Bird Lake this past weekend, what is Austin doing to improve safety?

On Feb. 28, the families of Jason John and Martin Gutierrez delivered heart-wrenching pleas to Austin City Council members that they increase lighting and security along the Rainey Street Trailhead, a darkened stretch adjacent to one of Austin's busiest partying spots.

"Our family is going through such unimaginable sorrow and despair over the past few weeks," Elsie John, Jason's mom, told city leaders. "We do not want another family to face the heartbreaking pain that we have experienced searching for our son. ... Make all the necessary actions to protect the life of the people of Austin near, and at Lady Bird Lake."

Both men had drowned in separate incidents in Lady Bird Lake, which parallels the trailhead, after an evening of revelry: John in February and Gutierrez in 2018. City leaders offered their condolences and promises to increase accountability.

"I don't want to go into year two, three or four and continue to have families that have lost loved ones reach out to our office," said Zo Qadri, a new council member whose district encompasses the lake. "One death is one death too many."

But little had been done before the deaths, the American-Statesman has found.

A serial killer at Lady Bird Lake? Austin police say no foul play in latest death

The Parks and Recreation Department only received a funding request to install lighting on the trail after the families spoke to the council, a parks spokeswoman told the Statesman.

Ten days later, city workers quietly installed temporary lighting along the trailhead. Workers also added "a split rail fence between the trail and the shoreline." Directional and safety information signs were mounted in, around and along trail.

But permanent lighting remains in the works, despite the parks department and the Trail Conservancy, the nonprofit that oversees the trail, having called for permanent lights on the trailhead in 2019, a Statesman review of park documents and interviews found.

The 2019 plan included adding lights, benches, fencing — part of a beautification and recreational effort — to the idyllic-by-day but disorienting-by-night nature trail. The conservancy had been fundraising for the project, with hopes of launching construction later this year.

Heidi Anderson, CEO of the Trail Conservancy, said the project has been planned for years and that the improvements were not based on the recent deaths.

"The (Rainey Street) Trailhead project is coming forth and does have lighting and enhancement to this public parks space," Anderson said. "What it may not have is enough additional safety precautions based on what has been happening recently in the area."

But she said they are working with the city to ensure that happens, and a study is being conducted to determine what those safety measurements should look like.

"We care for the trail from a recreational and environmental standpoint, and we are in no way in charge of public policy and safety measures," she said. "But we are here to support them, and that is why we are trying to help fast-track this process and come up with ways to get (safety) recommendations outlined."

Previously: Austin police find body of man in Lady Bird Lake on Saturday

On Friday, three paragraphs into its press release, the city acknowledged that the 2019 plans were geared more toward expanding "recreational options and improving amenities."

Only after the drownings of John, 30, and last weekend of Jonathan Honey, 33, who had come to Austin to celebrate at a bachelor party, has there been a "sharpened focus on safety ... a result of two recent, tragic drowning deaths that occurred this year," the city wrote.

The Statesman asked the Austin Police Department how many people have drowned near the Rainey Street Trailhead. Spokesperson Brandon Jones did not provide a total. Instead, the city put out a press release Friday acknowledging that since 2014, five people have drowned overnight near the Rainey Street Trailhead, with the latest being Honey, whose body was pulled from Lady Bird Lake a week ago.

The nature path from Rainey Street is notorious for how dark it can be. Seasoned joggers are known to wear lighted headgear when they run on the path, and it can easily become challenging to those unfamiliar with the natural trail, which parallels Lady Bird Lake.

Adding more lighting and fencing along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail, especially in the area where it meets the Rainey Street area, is also not a simple process, city records show.

Any equipment considered permanent must be "sustainable" in the flood-prone area and "ensure reliability and appropriately address environmental concerns." All installations must be compliant with "dark sky guidelines and wildlife friendly."

Kimberly McNeeley, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, said the parks department is recommending hard-wired lighting options, cameras, fencing, signage and safety beacon installation as permanent structures.

A parks department spokeswoman said the Trail Conservancy, which raises funds to enhance the hike-and-bike trail, said the $2 million project is in the bidding phase and construction is expected to begin later this year.

The deaths near the trailhead and apparent lack of immediate action by city leaders helped spur misinformation that a serial killer had been involved. For Austin, a city so image-conscious, to see Facebook groups, Instagram and TikTok videos rife with speculation, including maps with bold headlines of a purported killer, created a public relations crisis.

Police issued a rebuttal that there is no serial killer and the common theme of the drownings this year is a combination of alcohol and access to Lady Bird Lake late at night, adding that the parks where most of these drownings have occurred are closed to the public after 10 p.m. The police release did not mention the lack of lighting or safety structures.

“Many of the access points can be challenging to see at night. We advise the public to follow the rules on park closures," police said in an April 3 statement, which made no mention of patrolling the trail.

That changed Friday, when Austin Police, already understaffed, announced that officers will patrol the area and additional park rangers also will be stationed along the trail.

The increased patrols also come after the death of Honey — the second in at least the last six weeks along the Butler trail — which reignited a plea for improved safety measures along the trail. On Friday, Austin's City Manager acknowledged that the city needs to increase protections for everyone.

“As a city, we recognize we need to do more to keep people safe in this area,” City Manager Jesús Garza said in a statement. “We are moving quickly to do so and are reaching out to businesses on Rainey Street and other state agencies to partner with us in this crucially important effort. We also ask visitors to Rainey Street to drink responsibly and stay safe by staying together.” 

What is also apparent now is that the city is acting on the recommendations from the family members who spoke at the Feb. 28 public safety committee meeting.

Martin Gutierrez disappeared in November 2018 after a night on Rainey Street, and his body was found days later. An autopsy report revealed Gutierrez was intoxicated when he died of accidental drowning, according to a previous Statesman report.

“Multiple people have gone missing with no changes,” Mitchell Gutierrez, Martin’s brother said during the February public safety meeting. “Something should’ve been done years ago, even before Martin.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: After body found in Lady Bird Lake, Austin working to improve safety