What am I describing? Greensboro’s $26 million Downtown Greenway? Close, but no. I’m describing Charlotte’s proposed Fairview Trail, described by the Uptown Paper of Record as the biggest project in an estimated $80 million remake of the South Park neighborhood in order to better accommodate pedestrians and cyclists:
The city doesn’t have an estimate for how much all 45 projects would cost, but one business group partnering with the city estimates they would cost $80 million.
“We don’t know how much we can do with $10 million,” said city project manager Fran West. “The question for residents is: Do you want one big project or multiple small projects?”
One of the biggest is the proposed Fairview Trail. It would run along Fairview Road from Colony Road to the 30-mile Cross Charlotte Trail trail that’s under construction near Park Road Park. That trail will cover the entire length of the county. The Fairview Trail would be similar to a large sidewalk, with room for bikes and walkers.
Even better—West said the city is also considering a three-mile “Cultural Loop” that would “would be modeled after the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, which is eight miles and cost $63 million.”
So let’s see—an eight-mile loop cost $63 million—grabbing my handy calculator that comes out to $7.8 million per mile, which in means in theory—in theory— three-mile “Cultural Loop” would come in at $23 million. And surely Charlotte would want to top Indianapolis, which means it’s got to be more expensive.
As the UP of R puts it—“so many ideas and not much money.”
