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“Because we can’t gather to celebrate in person, let’s show our support and excitement by sharing how we’re using the trail,” added Fakhreddin. You have probably come across several recent news stories related to the Cross Charlotte Trail, and we wanted to address how this relates to and impacts the Carolina Thread Trail. For the latest breaking news, weather and traffic alerts, download the WCNC Charlotte mobile app and enable push notifications. Locked On is the leading podcast network for local sports and is owned by WCNC Charlotte's parent company TEGNA.Listen to Locked On here.
As South End becomes more pedestrian friendly, this confusing Rail Trail intersection still confounds - Axios
As South End becomes more pedestrian friendly, this confusing Rail Trail intersection still confounds.
Posted: Mon, 30 Apr 2018 07:00:00 GMT [source]
BREAKING NEWS
Once the Brandywine-to-Tyvola segment is done, the Cross Charlotte Trail will be open from Pineville to NoDa. "That’s the best news I’ve heard today,” Huggins said with a smile. The trail, in its entirety, runs along with Little Sugar Creek from Brandywine Road at the north end of the city down to Tyvola Road in the southern portion. Shortly after passing the right-hand turn for the well-under-construction offshoot that eventually will take LSCG greenway-goers to the South Carolina State Line (it’s set to open later this spring), we ran into another dead end at the Polk home in Pineville. The next 6 miles — which run from just north of Park Road Park to underneath I-485 (behind Carolina Pavilion on South Boulevard), then all the way down to the President James K. Polk State Historic Site in Pineville — have a lot going for them.
Charlotte Building The Longest Biking Trail in NC – The XCLT
While the Cross Charlotte Trail is one part of the greater Thread Trail network of trails and greenways, we have a stake in ensuring this continuous greenway is built as promised and planned. The Cross Charlotte Trail will be a 30-mile-long trail through Mecklenburg County that expands Charlotte's greenways. We’ve pulled together details and an interactive map to show you its planned route, offer updates on which segments are built or under construction, and detail plans for future segments. Use the arrows to navigate from the southwestern end of the trail south of Pineville and continue all the way to the Cabarrus County line.
Construction on Cross Charlotte Trail accelerating
Charlotte City Council recently approved the start of construction on the $3.8 million section that will run just under a mile from N. Another segment of the connector, which extends south from Park Road to the President James K. Polk State Historic Site, is currently in design and will be built by Mecklenburg County. It will connect to the Little Sugar Creek Greenway down to the South Carolina state line.
— Cyclists, walkers and runners will one day have 26 miles of uninterrupted trail that will span Mecklenburg County, from the Cabarrus County line all the way to the South Carolina border. But construction to connect the Cross Charlotte Trail has been bumpy, to say the least. The trail is part of Charlotte’s strategic mobility plan to make areas of Charlotte more accessible. The Queen City's greenways are a space to get active but they're also designed to connect residents to restaurants, shops, and offices. The current interim plan involves installing “continuous sidewalk for that whole distance.” That is tentatively scheduled to be completed by mid-2024.
Presently, however, that segment is still in the design phase. So if you go looking for it — like Charlotte Observer visual journalist Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez and I did — you’ll find a labyrinthine subdivision, an apartment complex, maybe a Walmart. Target completion dates on at least one section are three years away. There are wayfinding guides up to help people get to the SouthPark Loop and the Cross Charlotte Trail, according to the city. Click here to see complete map of the trail, including which sections are complete and what has yet to be done.
The concrete path that curves under Brandywine Road in the shadow of Park Road Shopping Center looks open, but we were met by three orange barrels and yellow “caution” tape at the next underpass — the one that dips beneath East Woodlawn Road. We parked at Cordelia Park in Villa Heights, walked down the steep hill to North Davidson Street, and followed the signs for the Little Sugar Creek Greenway that pointed northeast not knowing where we’d wind up. Just beyond that point, there’s a wooden boardwalk that curves up a hill that represents the steepest section of this stretch of Toby Creek Greenway. In fact, because the battery on Melissa’s borrowed e-bike wouldn’t power on (and because those bikes are so heavy), she had to get off and walk it to get to the top. Upon reaching the other side, you can look right to finally see the continuation of the greenway — and right in front of you, for the benefit of those coming up the trail from the south, a small “Greenway Continues” sign pointing in the direction from whence you just came. Not quite 2 miles in, we arrived at the intersection where the on- and off-ramps for the westbound lanes of East W.T. Harris Boulevard meet University City Boulevard.
Charlotte Center City Partners Talks Upcoming Events
City council expects the entire Cross Charlotte Trail to take roughly three to four years for completion. Creating more Cross Charlotte Trail continuity is speeding up after many were shocked in 2019 to learn the major project was underfunded by $77 million. To celebrate the opening of the South Charlotte Connector, the City is encouraging users to snap a selfie on the trail using the hashtag #XCLT on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
So we made the 3.5-mile return trip back to Kirk Farm Fields via UNC Charlotte, loaded the bike back in my SUV, and drove south. But we wanted to make a beeline toward uptown, and to do that, we had to hook a left onto the Toby Creek Greenway just a few minutes into our jaunt. Just a mile from the start, Toby Creek reaches the most scenic, most fitness-focused section of the campus of UNC Charlotte. If you follow Mallard Creek Greenway from Kirk Farm Fields and make no turns at intersections, you can head west for miles, under Tryon; beneath I-85; along the gravel trail that cuts through University Research Park; onto the Clark Creek Greenway that cuts north. You can park at Park Road Park in the middle lot, south of the duck pond, or at the tennis courts.
Hunt Allen told WCNC Charlotte he lives near the Little Sugar Creek Greenway and not only exercises on it everyday, but bikes on it to get to work. "I feel very safe and comfortable riding on the trail all the way downtown.” Allen said. Rescue personnel hiked a mile down the trail and spoke to a female who said she was hiking with others to a large creek on the trail when another woman trying to cross the creek fell in. She said a man jumped in and tried to rescue her, but he also disappeared. Officially, the 1.5-mile Brandywine-to-Tyvola segment is not open.
At this point, logistical issues were starting to become a hindrance. I floated the idea of taking surface streets for 6 miles to get to the next completed part of the XCLT in NoDa, but with little conviction. One, there’s not yet any signage (on this side of the street, anyway) indicating that the greenway continues on from here. An asphalt path off to the left heads up UCity Boulevard but leads nowhere. Across the street, the only thing in sight, really, is cookie-cutter development in the form of a Dunkin Donuts, an Arby’s, a Starbucks, an Orangetheory, etc. The day is coming when the massive City of Charlotte/Mecklenburg County project known as the Cross Charlotte Trail (aka the XCLT) will seamlessly string together several greenways to create a looong, winding, 30-plus mile route from University City to Piper Glen.
— A massive project underway, known as the Cross Charlotte Trail, is connecting the city’s greenways by creating a 30-mile-long pathway through Mecklenburg County. Within about three blocks we found ourselves on a pretty cool stretch covering a smooth asphalt path as wide as a residential street that cuts between Urban District Market and Seoul Food restaurant’s sprawling new complex. But then the equivalent of about three blocks after that, we spilled out onto the side of North Brevard Street and found a sign that indicated the trail continued north only in theoretical terms (i.e. with a dotted line on the legend that denoted “future greenway.”).
There are 11 total segments of the Cross Charlotte Trail, plus a bicycle boulevard that improves connectivity to the trail in North Charlotte. Freedom Park will always be the crown jewel of the county park system. It’ll always be one of the most attractive pit stops on the XCLT. But the brand-new section that starts a mile to the south is going to steal away a lot of attention this year.
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