Charlotte’s Rail Trail Bridge Project Delayed 6 Years, Now Coming in 2028
The much-anticipated Rail Trail Bridge connecting Charlotte’s South End to Uptown is now scheduled to open in mid-2028, falling behind its original timeline by six years. The City council gave the green light to the eye-catching structure in January 2025.
The bridge will span 280 feet, measure 16 feet across, and feature twin arches reaching 40 feet high. The bridge is a key part of the 2018 South End Vision Plan, which lays out new routes for bikes and pedestrians.
The money comes from several sources. City and county funds make up the bulk of the budget, with state transportation dollars filling the gaps and U.S. Bank pitching in $1 million. Several problems slowed things down. The pandemic made materials way more expensive. Getting state permits dragged on for a year. Buying the needed land turned into an unexpected headache.
“The funding for any type of public project is usually the easiest part. What follows that, of course, is all of the planning,” Crista Cuccaro, a professor at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government who specializes in procurement and contracting, said to the Charlotte Observer.
They didn’t start looking for contractors until 2024, years after first talking about the project. Each new round of planning kept pushing the finish date back. State requirements create extra delays. North Carolina requires public projects to pick the lowest qualified bid – a step that means more weeks of waiting.
Since 2006, people walking the trail have dealt with an annoying gap. This missing piece breaks up what should be an easy 3.5-mile walk linking neighborhoods to downtown. Right now, the trail just stops at the highway. People walking or biking have to take the long way around while they wait for the bridge to be built.
