I ran from one end of Charlotte to the other using only greenways or tried to, at least

Table Of Content

• Cross Charlotte Trail set to be open from Pineville to NoDa this spring
• CMPD chief discusses investigation into deadly east Charlotte standoff
• News
• I ran from one end of Charlotte to the other using only greenways — or tried to, at least
• Stay Connected!
• Flyover Video of the Brandywine Road to Tyvola Road Segment

The acceleration of construction along the trail will ultimately allow people like Bollinger and Leneave to keep challenging themselves to go as far as they choose. Much of the challenge for people like Bollinger and trail runner Carlin Leneave are places where the Cross Charlotte Trail abruptly ends, such as on the edge of Cordelia Park at North Davidson Street. That’s especially true near Cordelia Park in northeast Charlotte, which straddles the Plaza Midwood and NoDa neighborhoods. “The project was finished months ahead of schedule and we are thrilled to offer this new amenity for the community to use, especially during this challenging time,” said Imad Fakhreddin, senior engineering project manager. For more background on the project, we encourage you to read this article in the Charlotte Observer and Sustain Charlotte’s explanation of the situation.

Cross Charlotte Trail set to be open from Pineville to NoDa this spring

Little Sugar Creek is more river-sized than creek-sized here, and seems clearer and cleaner along this path than it does closer to the city. The path itself is smooth, still-fairly-fresh asphalt, about 10 feet wide the entire way. There’s nothing resembling a hill, and in fact, if you’re going north to south, you’re very gently descending the whole time along with the flow of the creek.

CMPD chief discusses investigation into deadly east Charlotte standoff

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.

News

Longer-term, the county still hopes to connect those two points via trail. I feel like I have to blame the maintainer of the XCLT map on the City of Charlotte’s website for this one. If you look at it (which I did, closely and several times, in the Polk parking lot), you’ll see green all the way from Tyvola to Rea Road. Green corresponds to “Cross Charlotte Trail Existing” in the map key. But I found zero evidence of the continuation of a trail, anywhere.

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.

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.

The Cross Charlotte Trail: A 26-mile greenway from Pineville to Cabarrus County is under way - Axios

The Cross Charlotte Trail: A 26-mile greenway from Pineville to Cabarrus County is under way.

Posted: Wed, 01 Jul 2015 07:00:00 GMT [source]

R&B Money Tour Comes To Queen City

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.

— The City of Charlotte hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate a new segment of the Cross Charlotte Trail Thursday morning. The new trail segment is located between Brandywine Road and Tyvola Road. A spokesperson for the City said the project has not been pushed back by the supply chain or inflation, but did not have a date for when the entire trail will be finished. The Brandywine-to-Tyvola segment is expected to be done by April 2023. Crews are working to extend the Little Sugar Creek Greenway from Brandywine Road to Tyvola Road. The project is one segment of the Cross Charlotte Trail that will eventually go from the South Carolina state line to the PNC Music Pavilion.

Charlotte Rail Trail - charlottenc.gov

Charlotte Rail Trail.

Posted: Fri, 21 Apr 2023 06:52:51 GMT [source]

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.

And, city council just approved the start of construction on a third section. (News Release) —  The City of Charlotte has completed a new trail connecting the McMullen/McAlpine/Four Mile Creek Greenway system to the Cross Charlotte Trail (XCLT) and Little Sugar Creek Greenway. The .75-mile-long trail, called the South Charlotte Connector, runs parallel to I-485 between McMullen Creek and Park Road near the Pineville City Limit. It features a boardwalk system and bridge over McMullen Creek near Charlotte Water’s McAlpine Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant. The trail expands access to the Cross Charlotte Trail by approximately six miles and to thousands of users.

I’m also a veteran of nearly three dozen marathons and a five-time Boston Marathon qualifier who has been excited about the prospect of an end-to-end jaunt for years. I recently set out to see how much of the XCLT was runnable (walkable, bike-able) as of right now. There were, literally, multiple detours; and, figuratively speaking, a variety of bumps in the road. See more information about the SouthPark trail projects here. Segment two of the Cross Charlotte Trail opened to the public this past July, and it lets you walk or bike from the Park Road Shopping Center all the way to the South Carolina state line. CHARLOTTE — An extension has opened with a new path from Park Road Park to the Cross Charlotte Trail.

As for this stretch of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway, which was largely new to me, it’s breathtaking — full of hidden-gem urban green spaces and eclectic points of interest from tiny to huge. Within a few hundred yards from the crest of the hill, we were on the regular sidewalk that runs along Rockland Drive. Around the 3-mile mark, after navigating gentle bends and concrete boardwalks through/over a pretty, peaceful swath of wetlands, we came to the street crossing at Rocky River Road West. In the not-too-distant future, the northernmost tip of the XCLT will be the trailhead at North Tryon Street, just around the corner from PNC Music Pavilion. A run (or, more precisely, a pair of runs, since I decided to save my legs by spreading it over the course of two days) packed with surprises and pleasures, as well as a few pains.

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.