Little Sugar Creek Greenway
Little Sugar Creek begins in Cordelia Park in East Charlotte, travels past uptown and historic neighborhoods, through South Charlotte and ends at the North Carolina, South Carolina State line. Little Sugar Creek is a 15-mile natural treasure that the community is working to restore and preserve. The vision is to build a linear greenway corridor that follows the path of Little Sugar Creek and connects urban, rural and suburban areas in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community with particular emphasis on the connectivity to suburban towns.
Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department, Mecklenburg County Storm Water Services and Mecklenburg County Real Estate Services are working together to complete the 10-year Little Sugar Creek Greenway Project. Once completed, the Little Sugar Creek Greenway will connect more people and places than any other greenway in the nation, including twelve district parks, five recreation centers, nine elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, four colleges and universities and more than twenty neighborhoods. A walking trail and bicycle path will run the length of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. Along the route there will be park benches, gardens, fountains, picnic areas, out-door classrooms and play areas. The stream restoration project includes purchasing homes and businesses located in the flood plain, removing concrete from the banks, demolishing parking lots that cover the creek, realigning the dredged and channeled creek to a more natural and meandering creek, and stabilizing the creek banks through native vegetation.
The planning process of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway divides the creek into seven sections, or reaches. These reaches are grouped around appropriate uses based on characteristics of the creek and its flood plain, adjacent land use patterns and the road network. The seven reaches are primarily an administrative tool for development and implementation and once completed, the Little Sugar Creek Greenway will appear seamless to users.
In making Mecklenburg a more "livable county" Partners for Parks believes it will attract more businesses to the area. Quality of life drives the economic engine. There will also be opportunities for local businesses along Little Sugar Creek Greenway to promote or expand their business. The Little Sugar Creek Greenway will also provide opportunities for new businesses along the greenway. In the urban areas like 10th Street to Morehead we will see an increase in restaurants, shopping and other people places. Business opportunities in the neighborhood and rural areas of the greenway include food and beverage vendors and bike rental shops.
Little Sugar Creek is currently on the NC 303(d) list that identifies poor water quality in our state. Restoring the creek to its natural state, improves the water quality leading to the restoration of natural habitat. Greenways also promote cooler temperatures.
There is a great history surrounding Little Sugar Creek and a main focus of the Little Sugar Creek Master Plan is to preserve this history. The Little Sugar Creek Greenway will create a wonderful opportunity to educate citizens on the history of the community. Some historic facts to be highlighted are:
- History of Charlotte as a Mill Town
- Background of historic neighborhoods like Cherry, Myers Park and Dilworth
- History of the Sugaree Indians who made their home on the banks of Little Sugar Creek
- History of early settlers who thought that dredging the creek would make it a means of transportation
The estimated cost to complete the Little Sugar Creek Greenway project is $36 million: 1/3 of the cost is hoped to come from the Public Sector (Local and State Governments), 1/3 from the Non-profit sector and 1/3 from the Private Sector.
