Crews are excavating soil along an abandoned rail line beneath Interstate 26 on the Charleston peninsula, the first construction stage of the Lowcountry Lowline, a linear park more than a decade in the making.

City officials now expect the public to be able to use it by the beginning of 2028, WCIV ABC News 4 reported Nov. 6.

Chase Anderson, a senior project manager in the City of Charleston’s Capital Projects department, told the station the city is “moving rapidly” and that the work is on schedule so far.

What’s happening now

Construction began in October and is expected to take about 21 months, moving in segments from north to south, according to WCIV.

The first stage is earthwork. Crews have cleared land, put up fencing and silt fencing and built parking lots at Eugene Street and Sheppard Street, the station reported. That stage is expected to wrap up in August 2027.

“So, we’re excavating the soil and bringing in clean, sandy mixed soil,” Anderson told WCIV.

A second stage, targeted to start in May 2027 and finish in December, would add sidewalls, plantings, lighting and site furnishings from Mount Pleasant Street south to Sheppard Street, according to the station. A third stage would cover the Bradford Park area, including a public restroom building. WCIV reported that stage “is not funded at this time.”

The timeline figures don’t line up neatly. Twenty-one months from October 2026 would run into mid-2028, later than the early-2028 access date officials gave the station. The station did not explain the difference.

The city’s schedule also runs later than earlier targets. When the project broke ground in December 2025, The Daniel Island News reported that the first phase was expected to be finished in the first quarter of 2027. Friends of the Lowline, the city’s nonprofit partner, still lists a summer 2027 opening target on its website.

What’s being built

The city describes the first segment, Phase 1A, as a 1.6-mile pedestrian and bicycle corridor from Mount Pleasant Street to Line Street, with public amenities, lighting and safety features. Friends of the Lowline describes the full park as 1.7 miles long and connecting eight neighborhoods.

The first phase will include a 10-foot pedestrian walkway and a 12-foot bike trail separated by landscaped medians, plus pocket parks and gathering spaces, The Daniel Island News reported.

The path crosses Huger, Romney and Cypress streets, and the city planned crossings at each, WCSC Live 5 News reported in July 2025. The city also planned three paid parking lots along the route.

“There’ll be revenue-generating parking lots. All the money will go back into maintaining the Lowline,” Josh Martin, an adviser to the city, told Live 5 at the time.

“The biggest benefit will be just the mobility,” Anderson told WCIV this week. The station reported he said residents could reach downtown without driving or hunting for parking.

How it’s paid for

City Council approved a $6 million construction contract with Edifice Construction, The Daniel Island News reported. The city has committed $15 million to the project through tax increment financing, the paper reported, a tool that pays for public improvements with the added property tax revenue a district generates.

Friends of the Lowline puts the city’s commitment at $15.8 million on its website. The group says it has raised $1.9 million in private gifts from individuals, companies and foundations and still needs $2.8 million.

The Speedwell Foundation has committed $2.5 million to match the first $2.5 million raised by Friends of the Lowline, according to the group, which says the match is directed to Bradford Park. When the project broke ground, The Daniel Island News reported that the gift honors Tom Bradford, a founding board chair of Friends of the Lowline and a cycling advocate.

The City of Charleston owns and operates the Lowline, according to Friends of the Lowline.

A long road to construction

The rail line beneath the interstate carried freight for the last time in 2004, when it delivered newsprint for The Post and Courier, according to Friends of the Lowline. The group says it has led the effort to turn the corridor into public space since 2012.

In 2017, the city and Friends of the Lowline bought the rail right-of-way from Norfolk Southern for $4.5 million, according to the group. City Council unanimously approved a conceptual master plan in 2020 and approved funding for design and construction in 2025, the group says.

“Today, we break ground on a project that’s more than a decade in the making, built for the community by the community,” Courtney Olson, executive director of Friends of the Lowline, said at the December 2025 groundbreaking, according to The Daniel Island News.

“For many years, this project has represented a shared community vision,” Mayor William Cogswell said at the same event, the paper reported.

The Lowline runs through a part of the upper peninsula where other public projects are planned. When the city announced its purchase of a Morrison Drive site for housing in September, it said the site lies in a stretch that includes the Lowline, the Lowcountry Rapid Transit corridor and major drainage and stormwater work.