Construction starts soon on the 5th/6th street Uptown Cyclelink segment
That’s the full name for the protected bike lane that you helped us advocate for!
Since 2015 Sustain Charlotte has championed this project with all of your support and work to demonstrate the need for this critical piece of transportation infrastructure. More than 4,000 of you signed our petition advocating for this project to be built. You can see the journey here at sustaincharlotte.org/ibikeclt.
In the coming weeks, the City of Charlotte will begin construction of a two-way separated bicycle lane on portions of 6th Street, 5th Street, and McDowell Street. Construction is anticipated to take place in phases between February and December 2021.
The protected bike lanes on 5th and 6th street will complete a long-awaited connection across Uptown between Irwin Creek Greenway in the west and Little Sugar Creek Greenway in the east. You may be wondering about the segment already on the ground. The existing segment is just the first phase.
With the completion of this project, the section completed in 2019 will be upgraded with a more permanent vertical barrier. Improving the barrier will make this route safer and more enjoyable for people of all ages and abilities.
What comes next?
The 5th and 6th street connector will be just the beginning. Work will continue in the coming years to build out the rest of the Uptown CycleLink network, which is anticipated to connect over 40 miles of bikeways into and across center city Charlotte.
This network will transform how you travel to and within Uptown by making it a safe and comfortable experience by bicycle or scooter.
As you can see in the map below, there are several gaps (blue lines) in the network that still need to be planned and funded.
A huge thank you to all of you who have supported our #iBikeCLT efforts since 2015. Without your support, this much-needed project would still just be a dream!
Questions about construction? Contact Kristie Kennedy, Senior Engineering Project Manager, at kkennedy@charlottenc.gov.
Visit charlottefuture.Com/cyclelink and sign up for updates or text “Cyclelink” to 732-24
Learn more about the Uptown CycleLink
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