CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cyclists, walkers and runners will one day have 26 miles of uninterrupted trail that will span Mecklenburg County, from the Cabarrus County line all the way to the South Carolina border. But construction to connect the Cross Charlotte Trail has been bumpy, to say the least.

Construction has been underway on a section of the trail that’s near Archdale Park in south Charlotte. That’s in addition to work happening between 7^th and 10^th Streets in Uptown. And, city council just approved the start of construction on a third section.

Avid Cross Charlotte Trail users, like Connor Bollinger, and their workouts are slowly but surely getting smoother and safer.

“I run about 50 miles a week, and I cycle about 200 miles a week,” Bollinger said. He says the best workouts happen when he has an unfettered, free range of trails, paved walkway and greenways. “I’ve just become accustom to figuring out what the perfect out and back is,” he said.

But those workouts sometimes can be like a game of hopscotch.

“There’s glass that’s been on these bike lanes for months,” Bollinger said during his run one day. “I know to avoid [them] on my bike, so I have to actually get into the road.”

That’s especially true near Cordelia Park in northeast Charlotte, which straddles the Plaza Midwood and NoDa neighborhoods.

“You really got to plan it because I know that this [glass] is still going to be here,” Bollinger said.

Much of the challenge for people like Bollinger and trail runner Carlin Leneave are places where the Cross Charlotte Trail abruptly ends, such as on the edge of Cordelia Park at North Davidson Street.

“It’s a little scary, just because you get so close to people, and like, you’re breathing in all the hot exhaust, stuff like that,” Leneave explained.

But eventually, her workout will get much safer. “The park road portion, that can be really difficult connecting to the different parks,” Leneave added.

Charlotte City Council recently approved the start of construction on the $3.8 million section that will run just under a mile from N. Davidson Street to Matheson Avenue.

“It’s nice to be able to have like an off-road area where we can get to a bunch of other places and shops and stuff,” Leneave said.

Creating more Cross Charlotte Trail continuity is speeding up after many were shocked in 2019 to learn the major project was underfunded by $77 million.

“This trail was not being built out in the timeline we’d hoped it would be,” Charlotte City Councilman Larken Egleston said. “The manager found dollars for us to be able to fulfill the promises that have been made.”

The acceleration of construction along the trail will ultimately allow people like Bollinger and Leneave to keep challenging themselves to go as far as they choose.

“You just have to slow down every time you get to a stop, so it can really kind of mess your pace up and your mindset of how you’re working,” Leneave explained.

City council expects the entire Cross Charlotte Trail to take roughly three to four years for completion.

Click here to see complete map of the trail, including which sections are complete and what has yet to be done.