East Charlotte Arts, Parks, and Culture

Entries on This Tour

We conclude our tour by returning to Kilborne Park using the sidewalk along Eastway Drive to Arnold Drive. Cross Eastway Drive on Central Avenue and continue north on Eastway Drive. The Arnold Drive entrance to Kilborne Park is a critical link for connectivity to the planned Briar Creek Greenway/Merry Oakes Neighborhood/Kilborne Park and the Central Avenue corridor to the Eastland Crossing site. However, the access has no parking, limited signage, and is part of an established small neighborhood. So, if you are willing to cross Eastway at Arnold Drive and walk to the end of the road past the bend onto Markham Drive and ahead on your right you will find the small entrance sign to the park in the clearing. Enter, it is worth it. See the entrance in the photo attached below. To quote a Merry Oakes family attempting to cross Eastway at Arnold Drive to get to Kilborne Park. "After waiting for several minutes, we got frustrated and decided to turn back. The kids were upset and said 'Bummer. We just want to go to the park!'” See the first attached video. The second video demonstrates the difficult limited access to our public parks for some residents. The signs says all are welcome, but can you safely get there?

2. Eastway Crossing

Let’s head on over to the Eastway Crossing Shopping Center and meet some of the small independent shop owners that are seeing opportunity and potential in this newly reinvigorated shopping center. You will be surprised to find an array of art and culture that is sure to delight visitors! Continue your walk on Norland Road to Dresden Drive West. There is a sidewalk on the right hand side of Dresden Drive, a street in the Eastway/Sheffield Park neighborhood. Take a right on Woodland Drive to Eastway Drive and cross Eastway Drive at the traffic light and head north on the sidewalk along Eastway Drive. You will quickly notice the fast paced impact of vehicle traffic on Eastway Drive. Eastway Drive is not pedestrian or bicyclist friendly although you will frequently see pedestrians, motorized wheel chairs and bicyclists. The sidewalk is narrow and not well maintained. There are no bicycle lanes on Eastway Drive. There is frequent bus access around Eastway Drive and Central Avenue. Bus route #9 on Central Avenue has the highest ridership in the City. The future CityLynx Gold Line will run from Rosa Parks in West Charlotte, through Center City and down Central Avenue past Eastway Drive to the Eastland Community Transportation Center. This area is ripe for a strategic mobility plan for multi-modal transportation to support this dense, diverse urban community. The first attached photo is the main entrance to the shopping center on Eastway Drive. The second photo is the entrance on Central Avenue.

3. Evergreen Nature Preserve

We will continue our walk across Central Avenue along Norland Road to Evergreen Nature Preserve. There are no bicycle lanes now but they are included in the CNIP. Along the way, we will pass Evergreen Cemetery. It is a City-owned cemetery. The entrance on Central Avenue has a large memorial to World War II soldiers.

4. Potter's Place

As mentioned the CNIP will include safer pedestrian and bicycle connectivity between Kilborne Park and Evergreen Nature Preserve. The intersection at Kilborne Drive, Central Avenue, and Norland Road will be improved to make it more welcoming and safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. Traffic calming and better lighting will be installed on Kilborne Drive and Norland Road. The goal is to create a more holistic and connected multi-modal network. So let's head along Kilborne Drive on the sidewalk to the future site of Potter Place Park at the corner of Kilborne Drive and Central Avenue.

5. Kilborne Park

The Central Avenue, Kilborne Drive and Norland Road area is undergoing a Comprehensive Neighborhood Improvement Program (CNIP) through the City of Charlotte. We will have safer pedestrian and bicycle connectivity between Kilborne Park and Evergreen Nature Preserve, surrounding neighborhoods, and businesses. There are future plans for more East Charlotte connectivity to the Briar Creek Greenway and Commonwealth Avenue into Center City and east on Central Avenue to the Eastland area. This tour will highlight the community's public spaces and areas of economic renewal. We start our tour at Kilborne Park, a county park, walk to the corner of Kilborne Drive and Central Avenue to view the plans for the future Potter Place Park, a City pocket park, across Central Avenue down Norland Road to Evergreen Nature Preserve, a County Park. From Evergreen Nature Preserve we will connect to Eastway Drive to visit the Eastway Crossing Shopping Center which is undergoing an exciting retail renewal. We will visit some of the independent small business shops to sample the variety. From Eastway Crossing we will cross back over Eastway Drive at Central Avenue and head back to Kilborne Park via Arnold Drive. A safe crossing is needed at Arnold Drive to serve the neighbors on both sides of Eastway Drive.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

East Charlotte Arts, Parks, and Culture

Created by UNCC Urban Institute on April 17th 2021, 8:02:22 pm.

Get a QR Code for this tour

Description

Take a walk with CharlotteEAST and experience some of the exciting changes happening now in this vibrant community. Visit two very special urban parks, a colorful historic shopping center and Potters Place, all part of the City of Charlotte’s Comprehensive Neighborhood Improvement Program (CNIP) which will provide safer pedestrian and bicycle connections to the many diverse, independent businesses and gathering places along Central Avenue, Eastway Drive, Kilborne Drive and Norland Road. We are excited about the future of this established East Charlotte neighborhood, so please join the tour and see for yourself!

Entries on This Tour

East Charlotte Arts, Parks, and Culture

Description

Share