Cedar Park is gearing up for a major Lakeline Park makeover, with city leaders signing off on a sweeping Phase 2 master plan that could transform the south side of the park into one of the region’s marquee outdoor destinations.
The April 23 City Council vote clears the way for detailed design and engineering work, as staff prepares contracts that will lock in project timelines and construction costs. If the buildout sticks close to the vision on paper, hundreds of acres of woods and lakeshore would open up to new trails, an elevated canopy walk, a cultural lakefront promenade, more parking and restrooms, a disc-golf course, nature-play areas, and extended trail connections to complement the Phase 1 amenities finished in 2023.
What the master plan includes
The master plan carves Lakeline Park into five distinct zones: Southern Meadows, Southern Woodlands, the Cultural Lakefront Promenade, the Health-Sports Loop, and Western Woodlands, each with its own blend of trails and activity areas, according to the Lakeline Park project site. The design team has sketched out an elevated canopy walk with overlooks above the lake and creek, an interactive kayak stop, new gathering decks, and a rebuilt pavilion along the shoreline.
The city brought in landscape architects at SWA Group to assemble the master plan, leaning heavily on resident input gathered during community meetings and surveys.
Funding, water savings, and the budget horizon
The expansion traces back to a 2022 voter-approved bond that set aside $42.2 million for park projects. Municipal budget documents list about $18.27 million earmarked for Lakeline Park Phase 2 in the FY 2027 takedown, with roughly $2.8 million already spent on Phase 1. City officials say the upcoming design phase will sharpen those estimates into a final construction budget, according to City of Cedar Park budget documents.
The project is also pulling in outside money. The Lower Colorado River Authority has awarded Cedar Park a $100,000 grant to build reclaimed-water infrastructure for irrigating the park, a setup the agency estimates will save millions of gallons of potable water every year, according to the LCRA.
Connections, next steps, and a new bridge
Parks and Recreation Director Mike DeVito said staff plan to bring a design contract to City Council at a future meeting as the project moves into the detailed engineering phase. On the connectivity front, officials expect the pedestrian bridge over South Bell Boulevard to be complete by the end of 2027, tying Lakeline Park into the Brushy Creek Regional Trail system and the Twin Lakes Family YMCA campus, according to Community Impact.
City planning materials cast the Lakeline Park buildout as a cornerstone of a broader push to boost “livability and sense of place” through recreation and cultural spaces. Officials say residents will get more chances to weigh in on buffers, trail alignments, and access points during the design phase, before construction bids go out. For those who want to dig into the maps and diagrams, project materials remain available on the Lakeline Park project site for public review.
