Charlotte Greenways and Trails

[Desert Power]

Yeah, I have never really believed they would extend north of Cordelia on this thing.  I'd just settle for the tunnel under Parkwood not being constantly flooded

[southslider]

^Except 25th St.--  an "over-rail" connector between Little Sugar and Toby Creel Greenways

[Niner National]

sad and a little infuriating. I've looked more forward to the cross city trail than any other transit project. I'd personally much rather have an extensive greenway network that spans the city north to south and east to west than the streetcar.

[Spartan]

2 hours ago, southslider said:

^Except 25th St.--  an "over-rail" connector between Little Sugar and Toby Creel Greenways

That's not part of XCLT though.

I'm betting the project was scoped right, but what wasn't (and couldn't have been) anticipated was the MASSIVE increase in construction prices and market value for land.  Ask anyone in the industry and they'll tell you that it's much more expensive to build something to day than it was 5-6 years ago. In some situations it can be double the amount. So the question is how to do value engineer something to half the cost? It's a tough call. Council has some tough decisions to make. I personally think they need to keep funding it. The demand for these facilities is only going up. If we don't built it we're going to fall further behind.

[Bikeguy]

22 minutes ago, Spartan said:

That's not part of XCLT though.

I'm betting the project was scoped right, but what wasn't (and couldn't have been) anticipated was the MASSIVE increase in construction prices and market value for land.  Ask anyone in the industry and they'll tell you that it's much more expensive to build something to day than it was 5-6 years ago. In some situations it can be double the amount. So the question is how to do value engineer something to half the cost? It's a tough call. Council has some tough decisions to make. I personally think they need to keep funding it. The demand for these facilities is only going up. If we don't built it we're going to fall further behind.

..and yet, just two years ago they pushed a bond referendum saying that the $38MM would cover it.  The lack of transparency coming out of CDOT is, at best, troubling.  

[Desert Power]

3 hours ago, southslider said:

^Except 25th St.--  an "over-rail" connector between Little Sugar and Toby Creel Greenways

I don't believe that has been funded yet

[southslider]

6 hours ago, Spartan said:

That's not part of XCLT though.

Maybe not funded as XCLT, but a trail connection between Cordelia Park and 25th St Station would function as a northern extension of the trail now ending in the park.

[Matthew.Brendan]

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0xPYGlBuMw9gJTJ4OH6RWNI0Q#Charlotte

Couldn’t upload this directly due to size, so let’s see if this link works. 

Time lapse taken a few days ago at the Rail Trail on a beautiful sunny Saturday early afternoon. 

[Nick2]

1 hour ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0xPYGlBuMw9gJTJ4OH6RWNI0Q#Charlotte

Couldn’t upload this directly due to size, so let’s see if this link works. 

Time lapse taken a few days ago at the Rail Trail on a beautiful sunny Saturday early afternoon. 

That's fantastic! It really shows the vibrancy of Charlotte with all the pedestrians, cars, trains, and workers in the background. Thanks so much for sharing!

[Guest]

New Logo for the Halfway Cross Charlotte Trail?

[Seaboard Fellow]

Not bad, but I thought the trail would be branded as “XCLT” . 

[Guest]

Not bad, but I thought the trail would be branded as “XCLT” . 

I’m making a joke. Since it’s it’s funding fell more than half way short


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SgtCampsalot]

Where is the progress of Greenway construction/plans for extending from Cordelia Park to around 25th St? I could have sworn the news said "north of NoDa" was un-funded due to the budget shortfall, but the project page says that this one is also "unfunded." How many projects were supposed to be funded that have been officially reneged on?

Fortunately, according the the 25th St Bridge page, they should start construction this summer, and finish mid 2020. So that's something for that area.
 

Edited February 2, 2019 by SgtCampsalot

[KJHburg]

Atlanta that big city down in Georgia has this foundation called the PATH foundation that raises money from corporate sponsors, individuals and foundations to build greenways and paths mainly in the Atlanta metro but a few they have helped in others parts of the south.   Perhaps such a foundation should be started here to help our greenway system grow and they partner with local governments.  Imagine this: this mile sponsored by American Airlines, or Bank of America or TIAA or Atrium Health etc.   They are really building a lot of pathways and greenways in the ATL metro. 

Check out the PATH Foundation down there in the ATL

https://pathfoundation.org/

I kept reading about this in the Atlanta Business Chronicle and finally looked it up.  

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

3 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Atlanta that big city down in Georgia has this foundation called the PATH foundation that raises money from corporate sponsors, individuals and foundations to build greenways and paths mainly in the Atlanta metro but a few they have helped in others parts of the south.   Perhaps such a foundation should be started here to help our greenway system grow and they partner with local governments.  Imagine this: this mile sponsored by American Airlines, or Bank of America or TIAA or Atrium Health etc.   They are really building a lot of pathways and greenways in the ATL metro. 

Check out the PATH Foundation down there in the ATL

https://pathfoundation.org/

I kept reading about this in the Atlanta Business Chronicle and finally looked it up.  

Silver Comet is amazing. It will soon connect the West Side of the beltline to Alabama. Already connects the perimeter to Alabama. 

[Desert Power]

13 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Atlanta that big city down in Georgia has this foundation called the PATH foundation that raises money from corporate sponsors, individuals and foundations to build greenways and paths mainly in the Atlanta metro but a few they have helped in others parts of the south.   Perhaps such a foundation should be started here to help our greenway system grow and they partner with local governments.  Imagine this: this mile sponsored by American Airlines, or Bank of America or TIAA or Atrium Health etc.   They are really building a lot of pathways and greenways in the ATL metro. 

Check out the PATH Foundation down there in the ATL

https://pathfoundation.org/

I kept reading about this in the Atlanta Business Chronicle and finally looked it up.  

Wow, this is very cool.  

[SgtCampsalot]

Wow, ATL, well done.

Greenways are possibly the easiest and most crucial ways to connect our disparate sprawling landscape. I've realized - after meeting people from all over - how unique and lucky we are to have so many creekbeds. Otherwise we'd have to be buying up private land to do such a thing.

[nmundo]

Looks like we'll have a segregated bike connection between the LSC greenway and the rail trail on 6th St by the end of next month. Friend who lives along 6th says they already started ripping out all the parking meters. I didn't know they were trying to fast track this project at all

 

[Bikeguy]

8 minutes ago, nmundo said:

Looks like we'll have a segregated bike connection between the LSC greenway and the rail trail on 6th St by the end of next month. Friend who lives along 6th says they already started ripping out all the parking meters. I didn't know they were trying to fast track this project at all

 

The biggest news here is that CDOT is taking over maintenance on the 7th Street Bridge from NCDOT which will allow the City to install a protected cycletrack on the bridge.  Construction on this most important link is imminent.   

[sakami]

3 hours ago, Bikeguy said:

The biggest news here is that CDOT is taking over maintenance on the 7th Street Bridge from NCDOT which will allow the City to install a protected cycletrack on the bridge.  Construction on this most important link is imminent.   

Just got the notice from the city. Work starts on Monday and will result in the closure of 7th St between McDowell and N King’s until April 20th. Traffic is about to get tough(er) on 4th St for a while. 

[SgtCampsalot]

7 hours ago, Bikeguy said:

The biggest news here is that CDOT is taking over maintenance on the 7th Street Bridge from NCDOT which will allow the City to install a protected cycletrack on the bridge.  Construction on this most important link is imminent.   

Wow, this is huge news. Who puts a left-turn lane in the middle of the ENTIRE LENGTH of a bridge? Sunbelty state DOTs, that's who.

Edited March 20, 2019 by SgtCampsalot

[tozmervo]

2 hours ago, SgtCampsalot said:

Wow, this is huge news. Who puts a left-turn lane in the middle of the ENTIRE LENGTH of a bridge? Sunbelty state DOTs, that's who.

I suspect that left turn isn't going anywhere. That's the primary means of going from uptown to central avenue

[southslider]

41 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

I suspect that left turn isn't going anywhere. That's the primary means of going from uptown to central avenue

Turning left to Central doesn't take the ENTIRE LENGTH of the bridge.

[tozmervo]

29 minutes ago, southslider said:

Turning left to Central doesn't take the ENTIRE LENGTH of the bridge.

I mean to say that I wouldn't be surprised if there's more left turn traffic than straight traffic. Either way, I'm sure they'll be able to do a really nice upgrade to the bridge

[pgsinger]

This is pretty huge.  Even coming from the South, I would be inclined to continue past Pearl St and go up here to get in to Uptown.  My girlfriend has considered riding her bike from basically Freedom Park to WFC1 for work.  It is an easy ride to Sugar Pearl St, but then you are stuck in the bike lane on Kenilworth/Stonewall with the major intersection at Midtown and two on ramps for I-277.  I am a very confident biker and I would never ride in to work this way.