CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Hawthorne Lane bridge that connects Charlotte's Elizabeth and Plaza Midwood neighborhoods is now open to pedestrian and cyclists, the city announced Wednesday.
The highly anticipated project was scheduled to be complete by August 2020, but has been delayed multiple times due to construction problems. The bridge, which crosses over Independence Boulevard, is now supposed to be done by December. The project has been underway since July of 2017.
“We have to do a better job of holding the people that we contract to do work for us accountable,” Charlotte City Councilman Larken Egleston said. “The level of incompetence on this project is breathtaking."
A spokesperson for CATS said the most recent delay was due to a contractor's error. They said the contractor poured the wrong type of concrete per the design, so rails could not be installed.