The Lowline got another $2 million and a new finish line

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The Lowcountry Lowline broke ground December 15 under I-26 with a clean pitch: 1.6 miles of walking and biking path on an old rail corridor, Mount Pleasant Street to Line Street, finished in the first quarter of 2027. That finish line has moved, and so has the price.

How we got here. The idea dates to 2015, and Tom Bradford, the cycling advocate behind Charleston Moves, is credited with conceiving it. At the groundbreaking, Mayor William Cogswell called it "infrastructure that works for people." The corridor was a railroad, and Wikipedia's history puts the line's origins in the early 1830s. Norfolk Southern owned it until the purchase closed in 2017 at $4.6 million, according to that account.

What changed. The Post & Courier reports City Council voted unanimously September 22 to approve a $2 million change order for the contractor, Edifice Construction. It is the fifth update to that contract, which now tops $10.3 million. For scale, the Daniel Island News described a $6 million Phase One contract at the groundbreaking. The Post & Courier also reports the stormwater design has changed drastically since design work began in April 2025, and that the whole project is now expected to cost more than $20 million.

The new calendar. According to the Post & Courier, substantial completion has slipped from February to August 2027. The stretch between Sheppard and Mount Pleasant streets would open to the public in early 2028, and the Bradford Park phase could finish that summer. At the groundbreaking, Live 5 News reported construction would take about a year.

Quick money check. At groundbreaking, the city had $15 million in committed tax increment financing, and Friends of the Lowline announced another $3 million, including a $2.5 million gift from the Speedwall Foundation in Bradford's honor. That adds up to $18 million against a project now pegged above $20 million. More funding may have landed since, and the Oct. 27 committee meeting is the place to ask.

What you're getting. A 10-foot walkway beside a 12-foot bike trail, separated by landscaped medians, with pocket parks and rain gardens that capture floodwater and clean runoff. Phase One is the opening act. The full Lowline is meant to run nearly two miles toward Marion Square in three pieces: a corridor under the interstate with a neighborhood market, a parks district around Newmarket Creek, and an urban core threading between downtown buildings.

Your calendar: On October 19, crews will return to the corridor (the city calls it remobilization, per the Post & Courier). October 27, the transportation committee gets a fuller accounting.

Sources: The Daniel Island News (groundbreaking, funding, design, contract), Live 5 News (origins, original timeline), Wikipedia (corridor history, purchase) and the Post & Courier (council vote, schedule, project total, stormwater design)