Thursday, January 17, 2019
The city of Charlotte has been planning on a 26-mile trail for the last six years, but last week the city announced that the current amount of funding is $77 million short of finishing the project. How did the city miscalculate by so much? Where does the project stand now? And, why does it matter?
It turns out, some city officials had known since last February that the $38 million they got through several bond referendums wouldn’t be enough. Knowledge of the shortfall came about as City Manager Marcus Jones took a deeper look into the funding of different projects he inherited from the previous city manager. But his office and the Mayor didn’t tell the rest of City Council at the time just how short funding would be for the project.
Now, the city is trying to find a solution. Some members of council called for a halt to the plan until something is decided. One proposal aims to get developers to build the unfunded portions of the trail as they redevelop surrounding land, another would put signs along existing sidewalks to connect walkers to existing greenways.
Guests:
Tariq Bokhari, City Council Member 6th District, (@FinTechInnov8r)
Michael Davis, City of Charlotte, City Engineer
Ely Portillo, Charlotte Observer reporter, (@ESPortillo)
Braxton Winston, City Council Member At-large, (@BraxtonWinston)
