Charlotte Greenways and Trails

[New Name]

There is a section of the LSC that has been reclaimed and rebuilt by Storm Water Dept up in NoDa too. It's on Culman Ave. There is a project for this to be a small pocket park, and eventually should be connected to the trail system (we had heard 20 years). But it's pretty amazing to see the creek uncovered, regraded and with features added here.

[archiham04]

There is a gap on the books from 7th to the playfields by Seigle Point that always bothered me in the planning of this greenway.

I think this gap is one of the best opportunities to introduce community prioirites other than automobile traffice into the Loop study that was in the news last month.

[dubone]

That loop study seemed to just be looking at the interchanges to help make them more urban like they did with South Blvd and Tryon shortly. I don't know if 7th is in their scope, but hopefully is.

[CharlotteDave]

T

Today I got my first look, at least up close and personal, at some of the newer parts of the greenway. I'm speaking of the stretch next to Thompson's Park and on down in the area of the Captain Jack statue. I was very impressed and actually like it better than the high profile stretch on King's Drive. Even in its unfinished state, it has more nuance and there is just something about the layout that I like better. There are still unanswered questions: I have no idea if they're planning to do any landscaping on the opposite banks of the creek, which has a lot of unattractive overgrowth or exactly what they're getting ready to do with all that construction near the Captain Jack statue. - looks like they may be about to build another large fountain.

[New Name]

^Love that first one because it almost looks like a streetcar! Sooooooon....

[dubone]

And pretty much the greenway is now the perfect way to get from the streetcar (or gold rush for now) stop to Met Midtown for some shopping.

[Niner National]

Excited to see this nearly finished! I just bought a place on the greenway and my company is looking into getting an office building at the Met. I'd love to be able to walk the greenway to work every morning.

[Spartan]

The only way to deal with improving 7th St is for the City and NCDOT (since they own 7th St) to commit to sacraficing vehicular capacity so that pedestrians and cyclists will be a true priority. Until that happens, 7th St will continue to suck.

As for the greenway, I'd rather see an awesome bridge that goes directly over Independence.

[nashbill]

Like that idea Gigalopolis. You'd get a stunning view of the city.

[Guest]

Like that idea Gigalopolis. You'd get a stunning view of the city.

haha, his name is Spartan, Gigalopolis just references his 16,928 posts

[southslider]

Only wish Chiquita could show some love for their new town and give back some of their subsidy towards a signature bridge (thinking a design similar to Greenville, SC) over Independence. Chiquita would get naming rights. Charlotte would get a cool place to see the skyline.

But seriously, just imagine how popular a continuous greenway from NoDa to Freedom Park would be. I see that "big idea" as much of a transformer of Belmont and Optimist Park as the BLE.

[CharlotteDave]

Apparently the grand opening for the urban section of the greenway, as they call it, is April 20.

The greenway was very active yesterday during the middle portion of the day, especially near the Metropolitan and the newer stretch towards Target and CPCC. It was the first time I noticed the little overlook they've built next to the Duke Power building overlooking the creek, which I thought was a nice touch. I was also glad to see they have a pretty decent parking area near the Captain Jack statue.(photo below) Does anyone know what they're building at the old CPCC parking lot on Elizabeth next to the greenway?

Edited February 24, 2012 by CharlotteDave

[dubone]

There has been a lot of random activity relating to LSCG recently. First, it is now pretty well complete with the remaining landscaping all the way from Parkwood Ave to Park Road Shopping Center. I have been using it quite a bit personally for biking and running and really love it just as much as I had expected to when first seeing plans when I moved here a decade ago. So now that the core section is done, the city is focused on extending it, which is now happening in earnest.

As part of the Capital Investment Plan, which appears likely to pass city council, the city will work on completing the LSCG to 485 in the south, and then add to the plans a new extension /connection north of Cordelia Park up to the existing trails at UNCC. Potentially (assuming revenue increase is approved and later the bond referendums pass) $35m of city bond money will focus on the "Cross Charlotte Multi-Use Trail", which is primarily the LSCG and Toby Creek corridors, from UNCC to Pineville.

http://charmeck.org/...ry Brochure.pdf

Recommended Budget Presentation.pdf

Also, the state has a $1m budget for Tyvola to 485 with construction listed as starting next year.

http://www.ncdot.gov...ls.html#id=1125

The state also has $1.5m for extending Toby Creek Greenway south from UNCC to Rocky River Road West which is part of the cross-city trail.

When you put this all together, and presuming that the city moves forward with these capital projects, there is a strong possibility that before the end of the decade, we will see LSCG completed from 485 to Cordelia park as long planned AND an extension north through NoDa and connected to Toby Creek greenway extended south from UNCC.

[queensguy06]

Late tonight there was a quick quip on the travel channel about the new greenway and it's place within the city. Only 30 seconds long, it's still good to see the conceptual idea of what charlotte is trying to do with green space be recognized on a national level.

[Miesian Corners]

Overall, the greenway has turned out great.  There are few things I'd like to see changed/improved, though.  I know it's expensive to bury utilities, but since all power lines were moved to the south side of Kings, why leave up the ugly poles and street lights?  It really detracts from the beauty of the park.  More importantly, however, is the fact that CMC, a place that's supposed to care about our health and well-being, has done nothing to help make the greenway more inviting along its holdings.  From a large surface parking lot, to a large physical plant, the hospital looks like it has turned its back on what could be a selling point for its services (health care:  where we will all eventually lose all our savings, but I digress).  Why does the county parks department not expect more out of an entity that is a quasi-public agency?    

[DEnd]

CMC is committed to the Greenway, unfortunately those parking lots are needed where they are.  Parking is highly limited on campus (they are currently bussing employees in from outer lots), untill the expansion of the Morehead Medical Plaza deck is finished.  To give you an Idea of just how much parking is needed there and how quickly it is expanding when I started at CMC 7 years ago the MMP deck didn't even exist, and it is the largest parking structure on campus.  The A lot (the smaller lot beside the townhomes) is used for 2nd year students at the school there, the B lot (the larger lot) is used for non CPN (the entity that the doctors work for) physicians, clergy, vendors, and over flow employee parking (it's where I often have to park when I go in for meetings).  As for the Plant it is a legacy building an won't be going anywhere, it would be highly cost prohibited to move the equipment that is there.  That said I just work there I have no idea what the long term (or even short term) plans are for greenway area there.  I'm also fairly sure that CMC financed quite a bit of the greenway improvements on along their property, BTW I know of a few employees who use it regularily to bike to work.

[dubone]

I agree that the CMC section of the LSCG is by far the worst, with the narrow perpedicular bridges that you must cross constantly, and the narrow pathway and an unattractive built environment (not to mention the smoking bridge).  

 

I know that hospitals are the one type of institution that seem to put the least investment into aesthetics.  I do think that that they ought to add a path in some sections on both sides of the greenway to help with the congestion issue.  Perhaps on the west side of the creek by Florence Crittendon Services down to East Blvd.  

[New Name]

I'm going to be a voice of dissent  here a bit. I appreciate the "urban-ness" of that segment. It's inconvenient, and a bit more run down, but I like that you can see that it's the original segment, has some character and shows that the whole project is continually growing and evolving. 

[nonillogical]

^ I agree, I enjoy walking that section more than the newer Morehead-Charlottetowne section. I like how it feels a little hidden and secretive. That said, adding a path to both sides through some of it wouldn't be a bad idea as it does get pretty crowded on nice days.

 

Does the city ever do routine cleanup in the creek? In the winter you can see all the trash that has caught in the vegetation when the creek was flooded, its particularly bad along the entryway to Freedom Park. 

[tozmervo]

full cleanups usually fall to volunteer efforts. I've helped clean the Little Sugar Creek section from Hillside to Brandywine as part of the USGBC's adopted stretch. I believe CMC has adopted the stretch from Freedom Park to Morehead (perhaps beyond)

[CarolinaCrown]

I just finished an internship with the stormwater services department with the county and although we/they do not clean the creeks regularly we do have waders, trash bags, gloves, etc for volunteer groups that go out and clean up some of the local waterways.  We did however sample water from this area on a bi-weekly basis.  Believe it or not our county has one of the most extensive C-MAN (Coastal-Marine Automated Network) networks east of the Mississippi river, and from what they told me the "restoration" of sugar creek has actually hurt its water quality because there are no trees around this area of the creek so it receives too much sunlight.  Unfortunately aesthetics overruled water quality in the project...

[tozmervo]

There are plenty of trees planted on the new stretch on the banks, they're just not fully grown. Can't restore a stream in a year.

[dubone]

Maybe that was a reference to it purely DURING construction unless that county is somehow ironically using some terrible pesticides/herbicides on the landscaping.   Otherwise, it seems highly suspect that the creek water quality is somehow worse by being surrounded by a running path and vegetation versus the old fast food and mall parking lots overtop of it.  

[CarolinaCrown]

Its more of less that without shading from trees temperature swings in the water are much wider and many species cannot adapt to them.  Its still a problem today as it was during construction, and it will take many many years of growth before the trees planted have much of a shade effect on this portion of the green-way.  Don't get me wrong i'm all for the restoration of the creek, but this portion of restoration wasn't necessarily as geared toward getting the creek back to a natural state as it was to have a park setting with views of uptown.  In other creek restoration projects around the county thousands of trees are planted along creek banks and flood plains, and that definitely wasn't the case for this portion.

[Niner National]

I just finished an internship with the stormwater services department with the county and although we/they do not clean the creeks regularly we do have waders, trash bags, gloves, etc for volunteer groups that go out and clean up some of the local waterways.  We did however sample water from this area on a bi-weekly basis.  Believe it or not our county has one of the most extensive C-MAN (Coastal-Marine Automated Network) networks east of the Mississippi river, and from what they told me the "restoration" of sugar creek has actually hurt its water quality because there are no trees around this area of the creek so it receives too much sunlight.  Unfortunately aesthetics overruled water quality in the project...

hmm, well I remember a story with a biologist in the area that was studying the creek. When the concrete cap was taken off the creek they found no life in that section of the creek. He said since it had been removed a lot of species had already made their way back to the creek.

 

Maybe it's not suitable for all native life as it is now, but before it wasn't suitable for any life.