Reconnecting the West End

Colorful square logo with text that says reconnecting the west end

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) program awarded the City of Charlotte a $1M planning grant to study the existing interchanges at Interstate 77 (I-77) and West 5th Street / West Trade Street. This planning study will assess barriers to access, including safe and equitable mobility choices, and connectivity to Charlotte’s center city – “Uptown” – while balancing the goals of the community and the needs of the facility.

The Reconnecting the West End planning study kicked off in Fall 2024 and is advancing a preferred design alternative for the West End Interchange based on six project goals. The final planning study will be completed by June 2026.

Community Engagement 

Design Charette - March 25-26, 2025

  • More than 100 participants
  • Feedback on five preliminary interchange concepts and development plan

Public Survey – Spring 2025

  • More than 100 Participants
  • Received general feedback on the following: Understanding how I-77 affects connectivity for residents; community priorities for connectivity, housing, development, and amenities

Public Pin-Up - Feb. 17, 2026

  • More than 50 participants
  • Feedback and support for the Preferred Alternative

Study Area

Charlotte’s West End is a historic Black community anchored by Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU), a Historically Black University with significant ties to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. A vibrant community with a legacy of culture, the West End has a history of entrepreneurship and small business within the Black community. Developed in the late 1800s, the Five Points of the Historic West End includes four distinct neighborhoods: Biddleville, Seversville, Smallwood, and Wesley Heights. The study will focus primarily on the “West End Interchange” shown below, but will consider the impacts of a proposed project on the larger “Planning Area.”

image of a map of the study area with description below

Study Area – The West End Interchange (I-77 / West Trade St. / West 5th St.)

Preferred Alternative

Presented to the public for Feedback on Feb. 17, 2026.

image of a map of the preferred alternative with description below

Preferred Alternative - Multimodal Network Diagram

Highlights:

  • Removes redundant interchange ramps
  • Enables significant land reclamation and redevelopment opportunities 
  • Supports opportunities for better pedestrian, bicycle, and transit connections 
  • Reallocates space on 5th St. to create a linear park and greenway connector
  • Maintains vehicular access between the I-77 ramp terminals, 5th St, and Trade St
  • Proposes a new two-way extension of Summit Ave. between Trade St. and 5th St.
  • Extends Irwin Creek Greenway toward Biddleville Park & McCrorey Heights
  • Establishes a dedicated guideway for Gold Line through interchange area
  • Supports future travel demand

Project Goals

  1. Reconnect: Retrofit or mitigate I-77 facility to reconnect the West End to Uptown.
  2. Reprioritize: Meet demand while also prioritizing the safe and comfortable movement of people.
  3. Reclaim: Reclaim land from the interchange area to better connect the West End to adjacent communities.
  4. Recalibrate: Understand future demand and design currently under evaluation through I-77 South Express Lanes project.
  5. Redevelop: Develop plans & policies to support mixed-income, mixed-use development.
  6. Redesign: Deliver 10% engineering plans for a West End interchange that accomplishes the above.

Project Partners

  • NCDOT
  • Community Partners (JCSU, Inlivian, Historic West End Partners, Five Points Community Collaborative, Charlotte Center City Partners, and others)
  • Project Funders (USDOT, Knight Foundation, Fifth Third Bank / LISC, and Wells Fargo)

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