CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The City of Charlotte provided an update to the design of the Rail Trail Bridge that will link Uptown and South End.
The event on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 11 a.m., which included Charlotte City Council Member Larken Egleston and Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners Chairman George Dunlap, along with executives from U.S. Bank, unveiled updated renderings of the bridge and provide a report on the project’s status.
The developers behind the project said it's not just about convenience, it's also a safety issue.
"This bridge coming in kind of gives that opportunity to make that connection and get rid of that barrier that 277 has provided for pedestrians to easily get in from South End to Uptown," Dan Leaver, program manager for the City of Charlotte, said.
The Rail Trail is currently one of the busiest places in Charlotte for people to walk, bike, or run but it ends just north of Carson Boulevard.
If you want to continue into Uptown, you have to take College Street or Morehead Street, but there are cars. The pedestrian bridge would cross over I-277 from the Blue Line Stonewall Station to where the Rail Trail ends at Carson Station.
The $11 million project is funded in part by the City of Charlotte ($3.1 million), North Carolina Department of Transportation ($3.3 million), and Mecklenburg County ($3.1 million). The remaining $1.5 million is funded privately, according to the City of Charlotte's website.
PHOTOS: New renderings of pedestrian bridge
Developers are estimating that the project will be completed in 2025.
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