CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Queen City could soon be a biking city if Sustain Charlotte has anything to say about it.
The organization, focusing on changes to the community which lead to a more equitable, healthy, and vibrant future, is celebrating a city project expected to be completed in late 2021.
The City of Charlotte is set to start construction on phase 2 of the Uptown Cycle Track, which will add a protected bike lane to portions of 5th and 6th streets.
Eventually, the completed phase will create an entire protected bike lane from Irwin Creek Greenway to Little Sugar Creek Greenway.
"This will be the only continuous, safe way for residents to get from one side of Uptown to the other side, traveling east to west or west to east,” says Shannon Binns, the executive director at Sustain Charlotte.
"There will be lights, specifically for the people on bikes, so they will have their own light, which also will increase safety,” Binns says.
Charlotte has partnered with Blythe Development Co. to construct the project, and it should be completed within the year, according to a December 2020 Council meeting.
How It All Began
It all started several years ago, with a Sustain Charlotte petition back in 2015. The petition pedaled up thousands of signatures, so they took it to city leadership.
Binns says they hope it’s just the start of more bike lanes being added to Charlotte.
He’s not alone in his wish. Other bikers, like Maryann O’Keeffe, were brought in as focus group participants on the original project.
"Having a dedicated lane, it just makes sense,” O’Keeffe says.
O’Keeffe, who works in Uptown, sometimes bikes to her job at ImaginOn.
Currently, her office at ImaginOn is along the proposed permanent route. At the moment, temporary traffic poles keep bikers and cars separated.
When the city approached ImaginOn about the project and asked for their input, she was named the business' representative.
Where It All Stands
Now, she and ImaginOn support the project after tackling a small problem.
"We have school buses that used to park all along here four to five times a week in the mornings. So we just had to figure out how to accommodate those buses,” O’Keeffe says.
Since the temporary lanes were added, O’Keeffe says the city stepped in and allowed the buses to park elsewhere around the building. She said throughout the entire process, the city has been set on making the project and businesses work together to make the project a reality.
She’ll be one of many using the new lanes when they are set to open near the end of this year.
“I know the challenges of trying to navigate traffic as a bicyclist coming into Uptown Charlotte, so to me, any sort of improvement towards pedestrian and bicycle commuting is, I think, just a great idea,” O’Keeffe says.
The project is costing an estimated $7 million, according to the project website.
However, Binns says it will bring a new wave of pedestrian and bicycle traffic to businesses along the phase 2 route, creating a positive economic impact.