The Torrence Tributary II Greenway was a collaboration between Mecklenburg County, the town of Huntersville, Charlotte Area Transit System, North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), and the Arts and Science council (ASC). Our team provided surveying, landscape architecture, and hydraulic, structural, civil, and electrical engineering services for this project, which provides a crucial link for the Huntersville community.

The design of the greenway began in January 2020, however, work on one component, a tunnel under I-77, started in 2017. Mecklenburg County had an approved and adopted greenway master plan in 2008 that showed the greenway crossing I-77. As a result, NCDOT included a poured-in-place concrete tunnel under I-77 specifically to provide a connection for the greenway. Thanks to the foresight of NCDOT and the county, the greenway successfully links the more than 33,000 Huntersville residents who live on the west side of the tunnel with the 25,000 Huntersville residents who live on the east side.

The greenway traverses unique terrain within a floodplain and floodway with multiple wetlands, along with significant rock outcrops not commonly found in the piedmont. Although the rock outcrops provide a unique aesthetic benefit and local habitat to many plants and animals, they have resulted in the greenway being located predominantly within wetland areas. To minimize the impacts to the wetlands and maximize year-round use of the greenway, we partnered with the county to design approximately 2,850 linear feet of boardwalk with poured-in-place concrete decking to provide an all-weather surface and comply with Americans with Disability Act (ADA) regulations.