Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Transit > (Cities | Types) > Charlotte > Trolley > Uptown

Charlotte Trolley:
Uptown Construction

Description

The uptown portion of the Charlotte Trolley route, from the Stonewall Station just north of the I-277 expressway, to Ninth Street, was built between summer 2001 and spring 2004. By mid 2003, construction was complete everywhere except on the short section through the Charlotte Convention Center and past the Westin hotel to the south; construction in this last section is shown on another page. Operation on the uptown extension began on 28 June 2004, and continued until 6 February 2006, when trolley service was suspended so that the line could be further rebuilt for the LYNX Blue Line light rail.

Pictures

These pictures proceed generally from south to north across uptown Charlotte. To show construction progress, some scenes have more than one picture, taken at different times. Click on a date to see a specific picture.

[July 2001] This view looks south from Stonewall Street towards I-277 across the construction site of the Westin hotel, roughly along the trolley alignment. The shrubbery in the background marks the embankment at the north end of the I-277 bridge. The existing route runs between the two buildings in the rear, which are on the other side of I-277.

[December 2001] | [March 2002] This new bridge will carry the tracks across Stonewall Street between the Westin hotel site (left) and the convention center (right). The Norfolk Southern Railroad once had a bridge at this site, but it was torn down after the convention center was built.

Standing at the north entrance of the convention center, we look north across Second Street towards the Charlotte Hilton and Towers:

[January 2002] Now we cross Second Street, stand next to the Hilton, and look south towards the convention center. The trolley and light rail will run through the convention center, to the right of the entranceway.

[July 2001] | [January 2002] North of the Hilton, the route crosses a bridge over Third Street. Here we are standing on the embankment between Third and Fourth Streets, looking south towards the Hilton.

[July 2001] | [January 2002] | [March 2003] At about the same location as the previous pictures, we turn around and look north towards the Charlotte Transit Center and the bridge that will carry the trolley over Fourth Street. There will be a station next to the transit center.

[January 2002] | [May 2002] | [March 2003] Just north of the transit center, we are standing at the north end of the Trade Street bridge looking north. A two-track section extends from here across Fifth Street, ending just before Sixth Street.

[March 2003] This parking structure with shops on the ground level, between Sixth and Seventh Streets, has been named Seventh Street Station for some time now, in anticipation of the trolley line.

[July 2001] | [January 2002] | [May 2002] Looking north from the Seventh Street Station parking structure between Sixth and Seventh Streets, we see the end of the line at Ninth Street. The former Norfolk Southern track continues to the north and crosses under the NC route 16 expressway.

[July 2001] | [January 2002] | [May 2002] Looking south from the parking structure, we see the Fifth Street crossing, the Charlotte Transit Center (with the arched blue roof), and bridges over Trade, Fourth and Third Streets.

[March 2003] Just north of 7th Street, a line crew works on the overhead from a hi-rail truck.

[May 2003] Looking south across Eighth Street towards the Seventh Street Station parking structure. The landscaping along the tracks is new.

[March 2003] | [May 2003] Near the north end of the line at Ninth Street, a station is under construction, similar to the ones that have already been built in the South End.

[July 2001] | [May 2002] Looking south from the end of the line at Ninth Street.

[March 2003] Looking south towards the north end of the line, from the 11th Street overpass, we can see a bit of the former Norfolk Southern freight track.

[March 2003] Want a crown? :-) These go on top of the poles that support the overhead wire.

This page was last updated on 23 November 2007.

Presbyterian College > Academic Web Server > Jon Bell > Transit > (Cities | Types) > Charlotte > Trolley > Uptown

This page is © 2007 by Jon Bell (jbell at presby.edu), who is solely responsible for its content. If you're interested in using these pictures, please read my terms of usage.