Charlotte Greenways and Trails

[CLTProductions]

The Rail Trail Twitter just cryptically tweeted this: https://twitter.com/railtrailclt/status/585128504871800832

Anyone know of anything?

[tozmervo]

I'm not sure, but it appears they have some kind of office/support space in Uptown on 4th street across from Abbeydale. Saw a sign in the window just appear this week.

[rugger62]

^To be removed with HOT lanes

I was surprised to see that the DOT does not have anything on the tables for any 77 widening or other work between the SC border and Exit 11. I currently work at 77 & Arrowood. 77 gets gridlocked often throughout the day, mainly happens near Tyvola which has a crazy amount of traffic and the ingress/egress is insufficient. I guess this is technically the wrong thread, but just throwing out the surprise. 

 

In other news, when are any of you main bloggers going to run for City Council so we can get some real traction going with improving the connectivity of our greenways & bike lanes!

[tozmervo]

They kind of do, just not until 2024. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article9240722.html

[InSouthPark]

I was surprised to see that the DOT does not have anything on the tables for any 77 widening or other work between the SC border and Exit 11. I currently work at 77 & Arrowood. 77 gets gridlocked often throughout the day, mainly happens near Tyvola which has a crazy amount of traffic and the ingress/egress is insufficient. I guess this is technically the wrong thread, but just throwing out the surprise. 

 

 

From what I remember, most of the bridges have to be redone (minus Tyvola which was done a decade ago). 

[ah59396]

Alright, I just got back from a neighborhood meeting and got an update on greenway construction.

 

A couple points related to the southern portion of the line.

 

1.  The Tyvola to Huntington Farms greenway starts construction, via the county, in late summer 2015, with expected completion in October 2016.  It will offer connections to Park Rd Park and the county is working with the Carolina Trailblazers to protect the network of mountain bike trails they've got back there.  The trail head point will be at Marion Diehl Park.

 

2.  In conjunction with the Tyvola to Huntington portion, the city is hoping to have the Tyvola to Brandywine (aka connect to the current Little Sugar Creek Greenway line) portion complete during the same late 2016 time frame.  This will effectively extend the green way from Uptown to just north of Sharon Rd West.

 

3.  The remaining southern leg from Huntingtown Farms to South Carolina is planned for completion by 2018.  It will include access to the James K. Polk site.  Additionally, the county is working the CMUD to connect the southern leg of the sugar creek greenway to McAlpine Creek greenway via the ROW along the water treatment facility that butts up to 485.  This is a recent addition, but not set in stone.

 

4.  Lastly, and a nice additional touch.  The county owns a decent swath of land adjacent to South Meck high school.  As part of the green way plan, the county is working with CMS to add a natural 5k trail though the woods connection the green way to the high school.  Currently the high school has to compete on local sidewalks, so this will be a nice change for the runners.

 

That's all I can remember.  I think there was more, but I blacked out with glee for a bit.

 

 

edit in bold:  2018, not 2015.  I can't wait to ride my bike from my house, right onto the greenway, then down to the Waldhorn for a beer.  Yesssss.

Edited April 28, 2015 by ah59396

[Niner National]

This makes me happy. I'm more excited about this than I am virtually any building project.

 

So no word on when it'll connect north to UNC Charlotte?

[ah59396]

This makes me happy. I'm more excited about this than I am virtually any building project.

 

So no word on when it'll connect north to UNC Charlotte?

 

 

No, I live down in Montclaire so this was specifically a meeting with our neighborhood association regarding the line and it's affects on us, so they really only focused on the south portion.

 

Another thing I recall now, the city is also working to incorporate the Briar Creek Greenway with a connection point to Sugar Creek.  It'll connect right there at Park Rd where Lucky Lou's is, then head north up to the Mint Museum on Randolph.  I thought that was pretty awesome as well.

 

And yes, I'm with you Niner.  This is the most important project the city has going on for me and something I'll use likely more than the light rail day to day.  I can't wait.

[kermit]

I agree with both you guys, a _connected_ trail network is going to be a critical element of Charlotte's growth and livability.

 

Having said that, as we have discussed before, we already have significant capacity issues on the rail trail and Sugar Creek Greenway (the old portion from East to Morehead). Unlike with highways bottlenecks there will limit trail use elsewhere.

[CLTProductions]

Couldn't find a good thread for this, so this will have to do. This sounds VERY promising and I hope it's done right.

WOAH!

Charlotte Nature Museum

Demolition of existing building. Development of new building with 2 tier structured parking. Upgrades to existing outdoor exhibits to include terrestrial, aviary and aquatic live animal exhibits; nature based learning areas and rain garden demonstration. The Charlotte nature museum site is part of the Freedom Park parcel currently with no delineated boundaries that isolate the museum from the park. Part of the focus of this effort will be to encourage visitors to access the museum from the greenway and park

[archiham04]

I like the scale of the nature Museum as it is... I would hate to see Freedom park junked up with more stuff than it already is.

[nonillogical]

I like the scale of the nature Museum as it is... I would hate to see Freedom park junked up with more stuff than it already is.

As someone who's lived right on Freedom Park for the last 3 years and walks by the nature museum on a regular basis, I've never seen it busy and have never been more than slightly curious about what's inside, as it doesn't exactly look inviting from the park side. In fact I didn't even know it existed before moving to the neighborhood, and still can never really tell if its open or not. I think it could stand to be improved on quite a bit. I love Grant Park in Atlanta and how the zoo and cyclorama are accessed from within the park, and am picturing a smaller scale version of that. 

[Vitamin_N]

We have a Nature Museum / Discovery Place membership--the Nature Museum is a great place to take the kids for a pleasant hour-long, as opposed to the more-tired multi-hour diversion that is Discovery Place. But I've felt that the museum itself--though not bad for what it is--could use a bit of investment. 

 

In other greenway news: I just noticed there's a new statue by the fountain on the greenway behind Hickory Tavern. It's a man with the letter "B" on him holding a pair of scissors, so I'm guessing it's a Belk?

[tozmervo]

It is. That got installed maybe a week or two ago as the next piece of the "charlotte history trail" that includes the captain jack statue and many planned others.

[Guest]

What if they extended the trail to Myers Park high school and give children the chance to walk there? It would just be an extension through Briar Creek.

[CLTProductions]

Awesome!!

 

6316 BIRMINGHAM DR
CHARLOTTE NC 28210

 

Little Sugar Creek - Phase E
New greenway construction consisting of 1.08 miles of 12' wide asphalt trail, 0.63 miles of 10' wide asphalt trail, 0.15 miles of 10-12' wide concrete trail, 30 LF of 10' wide boardwalk, 415 LF of 10' wide bridges, 520 LF associated retaining walls, 44 space parking area, clearing, drainage, erosion control, grading, and signage.

[15895]

Where will phase E be? Towards NoDa or past Park Road Shopping Center?

[tozmervo]

Judging from the address, it will start at the north end of the Huntingtowne Farms segment and go north past Archdale toward Tyvola.

[ah59396]

Where will phase E be? Towards NoDa or past Park Road Shopping Center?

 

 

This is the leg that will run from the Huntingtown Farms greenway N to Tyvola. 

 

Edit:  What Toz said.

Edited June 15, 2015 by ah59396

[Bikeguy]

^ is this a construction contract, or notice that plans have been submitted.?

[Bikeguy]

according to the Park & Rec map... Phase E goes from Huntingtown Farms to Park Road.

 

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/ParkandRec/Greenways/Documents/Little%20Sugar%20Creek%20north_Arcmap.pdf

[archiham04]

Since this goes past the water treatment plant, I suppose we could call this leg of the greenway the "stanky leg"

[kermit]

Cross-county trail public meeting on June 30th

http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/charlottefuture/CIP/CrossCharlotteTrail/Pages/default.aspx

[rjp212]

Couldn't find a good thread for this, so this will have to do. This sounds VERY promising and I hope it's done right.

 

WOAH!

Charlotte Nature Museum

Demolition of existing building. Development of new building with 2 tier structured parking. Upgrades to existing outdoor exhibits to include terrestrial, aviary and aquatic live animal exhibits; nature based learning areas and rain garden demonstration. The Charlotte nature museum site is part of the Freedom Park parcel currently with no delineated boundaries that isolate the museum from the park. Part of the focus of this effort will be to encourage visitors to access the museum from the greenway and park

They need to raise 28 million, but are hoping to begin construction in 2018 with an opening in 2020.  Looks pretty awesome!

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article44178129.html 

[15895]

I hope this could be somewhat enjoyable for an adult to go to even without kids. Looks really enjoyable