Linear Park starts to take shape
Path eventually will link downtown Mount Holly to Catawba greenway, Carolina Thread Trail
By Rich Haag, editor
Nov. 18, 2011 - Mount Holly took two steps last week toward becoming a pedestrian-friendly community and a gateway to the Catawba.
• LINEAR PARK - Work has started on a linear park for safe walking and biking between downtown and the Citizens Center on Central Avenue. The landscaped 10-foot-wide walkway will help transform the Hwy. 27 corridor into an extension of downtown while providing a crucial segment of both Mount Holly's ambitious Catawba River Corridor Plan and the Carolina Thread Trail - a network of more than 200 miles of greenways across the 15-county Charlotte region.
• PEDESTRIAN MASTER PLAN - Efforts to seek outside funding for a citywide pedestrian master plan got the City Council's OK on Tuesday.
The planning department can now apply for a state grant of up to $31,500 for the plan, which would evaluate current conditions, identify needs and set priorities for building sidewalks and crosswalks. The grant would pay for up to 70 percent of the total cost.
"We expect we have a good chance to get the funding," Beal said.
Details of Catawba River Corridor Plan and Linear Park
The linear park is the linchpin in Mount Holly's plan to provide a safe, easy way for Catawba River Greenway walkers and bicyclists to reach downtown, Beal said. "Unless you have that connectivity to downtown through the linear park, you have a greenway on the river with no way to get to it, without driving to another point."
The Linear Park will provide an attractive, safe half-mile-long path linking the central business district and the Municipal Complex.
From that point, people will be able to reach the future Catawba River Greenway via Alexander Street and the Clariant easement (for people heading south) and via River Street and River Street Park (for people heading north).
The city has been awarded a $1 million Community Development Block Grant, made possible by 100% funding through the NC Department of Commerce, which will add sidewalks and curb and gutter to River Street, improve housing, demolish four vacant dilapidated homes and improve the park,
The Linear Park project will be paid for with $1.4 million in community-improvement bond money that voters approved several years ago, plus $100,000 from Carolina Thread Trail.
The Linear Park will be built in three phases.
Phase One, under construction now, will rebuild Central Avenue between Highland Avenue and Lee Street, create a 10-foot-wide paved path and provide landscaping. It focuses on the area immediately surrounding the Municipal Complex.
Phase Two will improve crossings and sidewalks on Highland Street, East Catawba Avenue and Central Avenue and focuses on connecting to Main Street.
Phase Three will add mast arms at the Highways 27-273 intersection and the Catawba Avenue-Hwy. 273 intersection.
Greenway also ready to grow
Meanwhile, the city is moving ahead with the next phase of the Catawba River Greenway, previously known by some as Mount Holly Riverwalk.
One small stretch exists inside Tuckaseege Park. The city expects to start work late next year on a 1.2-mile stretch from Tuck Park to NC 27. When connected to the Linear Park and the existing section of greenway, Mount Holly will have two miles of greenway from downtown to Tuck Park.
The city has secured $800,000 in State Transportation Improvement Program funds to help pay for the greenway. The city also is working on an agreement to allow the path on Duke Energy property, an important connection point.
Pedestrian Master Plan targets rest of Mount Holly
While much of Mount Holly's planning for pedestrians and cyclists has focused on the greenway, Beal said that the city knows there are many other needs. The Pedestrian Master Plan will help the city identify those needs and set priorities for meeting them.
One big one is providing safe walking and biking for Belmont Abbey College students trying to reach nearby Stowe YMCA.
"You have so many college kids who have memberships at the YMCA," Beal said. "I see so many kids walking down the road with no sidewalks, which is a safety concern, and trying to get across (Hwy.) 273, with no crosswalks."
Beal said that he sometimes hears criticism that the town spends too much time making plans. What those people may not understand, he said, is that grant-giving groups want to know there are good plans in place for how the money will get spent.
"Through all of these plans we have secured over $5 million in grant funding," he said.