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Greenways and 2040 Vision were Topics at the 2020 Residents Association Annual Meeting
The Residents Association would like to thank Kennedy Middle School Principal Kevin Sudemack, Thomas Wells, and other staff for again hosting our meeting and providing the tables and audio-visual equipment. Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department Katie Lloyd, Senior Planner, and Bert Lynn, Capital Planning Division Director with the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department gave a presentation on the county's plans for greenways in Steele Creek. Click HERE to see a PDF file of the presentation.
Greenways are among the most popular park amenities.
Paved walking and biking trails were requested by 76% of the respondents, the most of any amenity, in a citizen survey completed as part of the 2015 Master Plan update.
The county has adopted an accelerated plan to complete 30 miles of greenways by 2023. See County Adopts Accelerated Greenway Plan; Walker Branch and Sugar Creek Greenways to be Completed by 2024.
The .6 mile extension of the Walker Branch Greenway from its current terminus at RiverGate south to Smith Road currently is under construction and is expected to be completed in 2020. The extension of Walker Branch Greenway north from S Tryon Street to Steele Creek Road at Sledge Road, and the constriction of Hoover Creek Greenway along the southern edge of RiverGate (from the Walker Branch Greenway to Steele Creek Road) are expected to be completed in 2023. These two new greenways total 1.5 miles.
The Walker Branch and Hoover Creek Greenways that will be completed by 2023 are located in the purple circle on the map below.
County staff are working on a Preliminary Alignment Study for the continuation of the Walker Branch Greenway south from Smith Road and for the Steele Creek Greenway from the South Carolina state line north to Olympic High School and Williams Glenn subdivision on Sandy Porter Road. They also are working on a Preliminary Feasibility Study for the future Capps Park property south of the Palisades.
Meck Playbook is an 18-month comprehensive planning and outreach project to help create the parks and recreation system of tomorrow. Meck Playbook will result in a plan for future parks and programs and develop a vision and strategies to meet the recreation needs of county residents and create vibrant places for people who visit and work in the county.
Meck Playbook currently is in Phase 3, Envision. In this stage, the Playbook will focus on developing initial ideas, goals, and future steps that will add up to a cohesive vision.
Three upcoming Vision Fest Public Workshops are scheduled in March.
Get connected! Click HERE to take their survey and sign up to receive emails when updates are published. Tell Park & Rec staff how you use Mecklenburg County parks, facilities, and trails and about any aspirations you have for the future of the park and recreation system.
Steele Creek Vision in 2040 Residents Association President Karl Froelich presented his Steele Creek Vision in 2040. Click HERE to see a PDF file of the presentation.
The map below of Future Land Use, prepared by the Charlotte Planning Department, shows the Westinghouse industrial corridor slicing through Steele Creek. This is the largest industrial concentration in North Carolina. Click HERE to view a larger PDF version of this map.
Steele Creek needs improved roads, mass transit, new greenways, updated parks, and new schools to keep up with growth.
Steele Creek's greatest transportation need is the widening of Highway 160 to 4 lanes, which isn't expected to be completed until 2028. Other projects planned but not completely funded in the 2020-2029 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) include the extension of Carowinds Boulevard west from S Tryon Street to Steele Creek Road and the widening of I-77. The addition of a bridge across the Catawba River near the planned River District development is under NCDOT study. A new SCRA concept is additional mass transit from South Carolina on I-77 and S Tryon Street. Much of the traffic congestion in Steele Creek is from South Carolina commuters passing through to get to jobs in Charlotte.
Charlotte City Council Representative Victoria Watlington will be having a Transportation Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, March 19 at 6:30 PM at Kennedy Middle School. The current plan is for the meeting to start with short presentations and then have a panel with staff to answer questions focused around our transportation/planning funding and tools. There will also be breakout time where people can visit the various tables to speak to members of staff. NCDOT, CDOT, CATS, and other agencies will be available to answer questions.
In addition to the greenways the county plans to complete in 2023, the SCRA is working with developers and the Park and Recreation Department to extend the planned Walker Branch Greenway across new development to the west of Highway 160 to connect to McDowell Nature Preserve and to the north through neighborhoods to connect to Winget Park. Pedestrian connection from Steele Creek north to Berewick District Park is also a possibility.
Two schools were approved in the 2017 School Bond, and construction contracts will be let in the next few months. These are the Olympic relief high school next to Palisades Park Elementary School (scheduled to open in August 2022) and a new elementary school on Sandy Porter Road (scheduled to open in August 2021). Charlotte-Mecklenburg School also owns land for a future middle school on Steele Creek Road near the South Carolina line, but funding for that school will have to come in a future bond.
The Steele Creek Residents Association has an active Rezonings and Land Use Committee and an active Greenways Committee. We are forming new committees for Roads and Mass Transit and for Schools. If you are interested in any of these committees, please send an email to the addresses below.
Keep up with Steele Creek news on our web site at www.steelecreekresidents.org or our Facebook page at facebook.com/steelecreek.
Also at the meeting, the membership elected Carla, Brazzell, Justin McDonald, and Abdul Sihlangu to the Board of Directors. Click HERE to view detailed notes about the meeting.
Meet & Mingle Attendees got to talk to representatives of over two dozen state and local government agencies and non-profit organizations, and principals of several area schools during the Meet and Mingle part of the meeting. This was a great opportunity to interact with many of the people who affect the quality of life in Steele Creek. Click HERE for a list of contacts. The Meet and Mingle participants were:
Arrowood Business Association View the Meet and Mingle Presentation Loop HERE. We hope the community found the meeting informative and useful.
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(March
9, 2020) The Steele Creek Residents Association held its 2020 Annual
Meeting on February 27. Residents got to talk to representatives of
over two dozen state and local government agencies and non-profit
organizations who contribute to the Quality of Life in Steele Creek.
Presentations were on Greenways Coming to Steele Creek and Steele Creek Vision in 2040!
