BIG Happenings on Little Sugar Creek Greenway

Spring in the Charlotte area is generally a lovely, albeit unpredictable, time of year. Along with the warming weather and change of season, we’re likely all looking forward to the anticipated openings along the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. We checked in with Mecklenburg County Senior Planner and Landscape Architect, Katie Lloyd for an update on TWO major projects – and then some — that are set to wrap up this spring.

The first, and likely most visible to folks closer to Charlotte, is work along the Little Sugar Greek Greenway between Brandywine to Tyvola. Once complete, this section will connect the Freedom Park area to Marion Diehl. The City is building this one, says Llyod, and she expects an April or May opening on this section.

“There’s still a lot on the ground,” says Lloyd, “and I think people are using it like crazy already… but this is still a construction site.” Duly noted.

Also under construction, but quietly under the radar, is the last segment of Little Sugar Creek Greenway. It’s a nearly three-mile stretch from the historic Polk site to the South Carolina state line.

“That should be done, we’re hoping March so early spring,” says Lloyd, “at the end of that we’ll also have a little kind of resting plaza at the state line, which will really be kind of cool. So you can kind of ride up and down, relax, take a little selfie and then ride back up!”

Lloyd says she thinks people will be surprised by the changes in the landscape on this most southern leg of the greenway. Little Sugar Creek is much more undisturbed in this area, cutting through areas that are far less developed than in stretches closer to the center city.

“I’m pretty excited for people to see that because, you know, each section we can see the Little Sugar feels a little bit different, right? In town it’s going to be very urban and structural … and then down here, Little Sugar is much more in the woods, much more winding, and with some really beautiful sections of boardwalk that we’ll add to that.”

And as these big projects wrap this spring, Lloyd says we can keep an eye on existing and new developments along Little Sugar Creek and connecting greenways.

Atrium continues work along the section of Little Sugar Creek Greenway that passes under Kings Drive adjacent to the hospital’s main campus. Lloyd says she expects that project won’t be complete until mid-2024. Until then, greenway users will continue to be detoured to the street level.

Mecklenburg County has just received bids for construction along a section of Brier and Little Hope Creek Greenway, which will be an East-West connector from the Marion Diehl campus. Lloyd says construction should begin here within the next few months.

To stay updated on current Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation planning, design, and construction projects, Lloyd says residents can find more information, offer input, and reach directly to Project Managers through the County’s input dashboard: https://publicinput.com/MeckParkRec