‘A visual landmark’: Work begins on Rail Trail Bridge

Donning plastic booties, local officials and private community partners cast their mark in commemorative, concrete stepping stones Tuesday at the LYNX Blue Line’s Stonewall Station, symbolically kicking off initial work on the Rail Trail Bridge.

The $11 million pedestrian bridge along the Blue Line corridor, crossing Interstate 277, is considered a critical development to physically link South End and uptown.

It will extend the current route along the Rail Trail, giving pedestrians and cyclists new access between the East Morehead Street bridge — north of Carson Street — and Stonewall Station.

“This is a project where there’s a lot of energy,” Michael Smith, president and CEO of Center City Partners, said in an interview. “We’ve got two of our greatest neighborhoods in Charlotte that are divided by infrastructure.”

Initial plans for the Blue Line had called for a pedestrian bridge, though it was cut as a cost-saving measure. To venture into uptown, pedestrians must now share a bridge with heavy car traffic.

Construction of the Rail Trail Bridge is expected to begin in late 2021 and end by 2023. The city is still seeking community input through Dec. 12 on two proposed designs that feature either a double or single span over I-277.

Ivan Depeña, the project’s lead designer, said the single-span option — rising about 75 feet above the bridge platform — invokes a verticality that could dramatically alter Charlotte’s skyline.

“It becomes an icon and a visual landmark. It’s a big gesture,” Depeña said in an interview Tuesday.

The double-span design, Depeña said, consists of a series of curved arches and canopies that rise about 40 feet above the bridge platform. It’s also slightly wider and provides more surface area than the single-span option, measuring 17 feet across.

Mayor Vi Lyles said the Rail Trail Bridge will provide a car-free route that can ease traffic congestion in Charlotte and spur new opportunities for affordable housing in the region.

“When you do a piece of art and it’s functional like this, we’ve really hit the mark,” Lyles said in an interview as she examined bridge renderings that were propped on easels at Stonewall Station.

Council member Larken Egleston said he envisions various benches and resting areas along the Rail Trail Bridge, making the structure a destination itself.

“People will be excited once they see the construction. Both designs look beautiful,” Egleston, of District 1, said in an interview.

A separate pedestrian bridge, which is included in plans for the Charlotte Convention Center’s expansion, could create more connectivity across Stonewall Street — linking the center with apartments, retail space, the Blue Line and The Westin Charlotte hotel.

The city and Mecklenburg County have each committed $3.1 million to fund the Rail Trail Bridge. Another $3.3 million will come from the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Private contributions total $1.5 million, including $1 million from Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank, the project’s lead sponsor.

This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 10:54 AM.