10 Charlotte-area greenway projects to watch in 2024

State of play: 16.4 miles of greenway are under construction in Mecklenburg County.

Why it matters: This is the county’s largest amount of greenway construction at one time. It will ultimately provide residents with more green space to explore and promote an alternative to congested streets.

By the numbers: The county’s current greenway master plan includes approximately 344 miles of greenway. Roughly 117 miles are funded and should be completed by 2030. There are 69 miles of existing greenway trails as of early January, Lloyd tells Axios.

What’s next: In addition to the 16.4 miles of greenway currently under construction, an additional 8 miles are expected to begin construction this year. Future construction includes:

• Irwin Creek Greenway: 2.2 miles from Statesville Road to Allen Hills Park in north Charlotte should be complete by late-2025. Cost: $5.1 million.
• McDowell Creek Greenway: 2.5 miles in Huntersville from Chilgrove Lane to Highway 73 should be complete by the end of 2025. Cost: $5.3 million
• Sugar Creek Greenway: 3.3 miles of trail in southwest Charlotte from Yorkmont Road to McDowell Farms Drive is expected to be complete by mid-2026. This is not to be confused with the existing Little Sugar Creek Greenway. Cost: $14.6 million.

Here are 10 greenway projects expected to wrap up in 2024, listed in order of their anticipated completion.

Stewart Creek Tributary 2

Details: 1 mile from Yellowstone Drive to Lakewood Avenue in west Charlotte.

Timeline: The project should wrap up this month.

Cost: $3.6 million

Long Creek Greenway

Details: The second phase of Long Creek Greenway includes 2 miles, stretching 3.5 miles total from the Target in Northlake to I-485 off Beatties Ford Road.

Timeline: This is expected to be complete in the next two months. Phase three of Long Creek is currently under construction as well. The new 2.1-mile section will extend from I-485 to Oakdale Road and should be complete in 2025.

Cost: $15.7 million.

• Of note: This figure includes funding for phases two and three of the project.

Torrence Tributary 2

Details: The new 0.9-mile section connects the Huntersville Gateway Park and Ride (located at Compass Street) to Rosewood Meadow Lane. It also incorporates a tunnel under I-77 completed by NCDOT.

Timeline: The new section should be complete this spring.

Cost: $5.6 million

McIntyre Creek Greenway

Details: 0.9-mile section extends from Beatties Ford Road to Clarencefield Drive on the backside of Hornets Nest Park in northwest Charlotte. This greenway will ultimately connect to Long Creek Greenway and Oak Hills Park.

Timeline: March is the target for this project’s completion.

Cost: $1.8 million

Stewart Creek 

Details: The new 0.5-mile section will connect from State Street, near Blue Blaze Brewing in west Charlotte, to Coronet Way.

Timeline: The new section should be complete by mid-2024.

Cost: $3.2 million

Paw Creek Greenway

Details: Little Rock Road to Loy Court is 1.5 miles. It’s the first section of the west Charlotte greenway, which will connect Robert L. Smith Park at Little Rock Road to the nearby neighborhoods.

Timeline: This is expected to be complete by mid-2024.

Cost: $5.5 million

Caldwell Station Tributary Greenway

Details: The 0.8-mile section will connect Caldwell Station Greenway to the Northern Regional Recreation Center on Old Statesville Road in Cornelius. 

Timeline: This section should be complete by mid-2024.

Cost: $3.3 million

McDowell Creek Greenway

Details: Segment 1B of this greenway in Huntersville includes 0.6-mile section of greenway from Chilgrove Lane to Gildead Road.  The project consists of four segments due to funding and real estate hurdles.

Timeline: This section should open in the fall. Additional portions of the project could start construction this year too, per Lloyd.

Cost: $1.3 million

Little Sugar Creek Greenway

Details: Little Sugar Creek Greenway closed in spring 2022 as part of Atrium Health’s main campus expansion and a Charlotte Water project. The renovated 1-mile section will include wider paths and improved flood control.

• Atrium Health is paying for this section.

Timeline: The greenway should reopen this fall.

Briar Creek/Little Hope Creek Greenways 

Details: The 1.1-mile segment will serve as the east-west connector to Little Sugar Creek Greenway. It will connect Keystone Court to Manning Drive, running through Marion Diehl Park in south Charlotte. 

Timeline: The project should wrap up by the end of this year or early 2025.

Cost: $3.7 million

Of note: You can share your thoughts on the Park and Recreation public input dashboard here.

[Go deeper: 30 best outdoor activities within 2 hours of Charlotte]