Michael Vaughan

Charlotte City Council will vote tonight to accept $3 million in funding for the Rail Trail bridge. The long delayed and anticipated pedestrian bridge will extend the Rail Trail over I-277 and connect South End to Uptown. The CRTPO is providing a $2.5 million grant. The nonprofit Queen's Table is providing $511K The city of Charlotte tells me the Queen's Table funding will go toward lighting the new bridge. I'm told, "The aesthetic lighting element will compose a series of LED lights illuminating the bottom of the arches. The lighting is utilizing multiple slowly/gradual rotating colors. There is also reflective painting of the structural steel arches to help illuminate the lights." Queen's Table is a nonprofit overseen by the Foundation For The Carolina established to "to celebrate Charlotte by quietly finding and filling needs that are not otherwise being met to enhance the quality of life in the City." Past examples of donations by the Queen's Table include the Sculptures on the Square by Raymond Kaskey located at the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets in uptown Charlotte, the Queen Charlotte sculpture (also by Kaskey) located at the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and a wind sculpture on West Trade Street. The project is expected to open in 2028.