Mayor Vi Lyles | Mayor Vi Lyles Official Photo
Mayor Vi Lyles | Mayor Vi Lyles Official Photo
CHARLOTTE, N.C.– The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded $12 million to the City of Charlotte’s West Sugar Creek Mobility Corridor. The award was provided through DOT’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant Program.
The West Sugar Creek Mobility Corridor is a priority project in the city’s Corridors of Opportunity Program. The newly awarded grant will fund the engineering, right-of-way, and construction of three mobility hubs with electric vehicle charging stations, improved pedestrian crossings, intersection improvements, smart lighting, a multi-use path and new sidewalk (approximately 3.5 miles) along West Sugar Creek Road.
“We are grateful for our valuable federal partnerships,” said Mayor Vi Lyles. “This grant will bring much needed improvements to the Sugar Creek area, improving access to housing and jobs for thousands of Charlotte residents.”
The project leverages more than $20 million for other improvements in the area that will connect Sugar Creek communities to:
- Cross Charlotte Trail.
- Sugar Creek light rail station.
- More frequent bus service.
This initiative will also provide connections to the Sugar Creek Recreation Center, a homebase for youth programming that has been a cornerstone in the community.
The city’s partnership with Duke Energy, a collaboration known as CitySET, has been a key part of this project. The joint commitment was established to identify and implement innovative solutions that accelerate the city’s sustainable energy transformation and prioritize clean energy goals. This also provides safety improvements in the corridor project and the most up-to-date technology including smart, energy-efficient lighting, signage, wayfinding and electric vehicle charging to support mobility.
“Having the option to choose an electric vehicle should be available to everyone. As we’ve been planning for more EVs on the road across the Duke Energy footprint, greater access to charging stations has been a key focus,” said Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy North Carolina State President. “We’re proud to collaborate locally to develop innovative technology that will help remove some of those access barriers.”
Once complete, the $24 million dollar project, will result in more than $91 million in benefits such as improving public and environmental health, pedestrian and bike safety, and travel time savings.
West Sugar Creek is one of six Corridors of Opportunity that the City of Charlotte is investing in; a total investment of $67.5 million because of the critical role each corridor plays in supplying basic needs and economic opportunities for its current residents and future generations.
About RAISE Grants
The Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE Discretionary Grant program, provides a unique opportunity for the DOT to invest in road, rail, transit and port projects that promise to achieve national objectives. Congress has dedicated nearly $12.1 billion for fourteen rounds of National Infrastructure Investments to fund projects that have a significant local or regional impact. In each competition, DOT receives hundreds of applications to build and repair critical pieces of our freight and passenger transportation networks. The RAISE program enables DOT to examine these projects on their merits to help ensure that taxpayers are getting the highest value for every dollar invested.
Original source can be found here
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