Charleston broke ground on the Lowline on December 15, 2025. For most of the ten months since, the old rail corridor under I-26 has looked much the same as before, with a small path, construction fencing and pallets of material in a fenced area. Oct. 19 was set to change that. City Council unanimously approved a $2 million contract change on Sept. 22, and work on the corridor was scheduled to "remobilize" that Monday, according to The Post and Courier.
The Lowline is a stormwater project first and a park second. The drainage design changed, which pushed the schedule back, and the first visible work will be earthmoving, not paving. The city's current date for the first stretch people can walk is early 2028, not 2027.
The Drainage Plan Changed, and the Schedule Moved With It
The $2 million change order was needed because the stormwater design had "changed drastically" since preconstruction and design work began in April 2025, according to city records cited by The Post and Courier. It is the fifth amendment to the contract with Edifice Construction LLC, which now totals more than $10.3 million. The full project is expected to cost upwards of $20 million.
City spokesperson Bay Sheehan told the paper that work had continued since the groundbreaking, mostly where passersby couldn't see it. That work included design, permitting, construction coordination, erosion control, site protection, site preparation and grading. She also said the three parking lots tied to the Lowline had been upgraded. People had noticed the lack of visible progress. Councilmember Aaron Polkey, who represents the area, said at the Sept. 22 meeting that peninsula residents had been asking where the project stood.
Drainage drives the design because the corridor itself is compacted former rail bed. Friends of the Lowline, the nonprofit that has pushed for the project since 2012, has always aimed to turn that hard ground into green infrastructure that soaks up water and also works as public space. The city describes it the same way. "The Lowline Park is not only a beautifully planned public place but also a critical downtown stormwater infrastructure project," Sheehan told The Post and Courier. The paper's Sept. 22 photos show the problem plainly. A puddle covers part of the existing path near Romney Street under the overpass.
What the Earthworks Phase Looks Like From the Sidewalk
The 1.6-mile stretch from Mount Pleasant Street to Line Street is moving into major earthworks with the restart. Sheehan said this is when the public will start seeing "a much more obvious physical transformation of the corridor." The corridor crosses Huger, Romney and Cypress streets, as described by a city advisor in Live 5's 2025 report on the Phase 1 approval. Those crossings are where the work will be easiest to see from a car or a bike.
The earthworks determine what gets built on top. The city's plans call for separate walking and biking paths divided by planted medians, plus better lighting and safety improvements at street crossings. Those planted medians are also where a drainage-focused design would catch rainwater. In a July 2026 post about the corridor plan by DesignWorks, Friends of the Lowline named the benches, plantings and gathering spaces as its key elements. The group says the Phase 1 design is final. Smaller details are still open to community input, such as where a bench goes or whether a section could host a market.
Three Opening Dates, and the Milestones Behind Them
Ask when the Lowline opens and you can get three answers, all from people involved in the project. The table below lists each one alongside the construction milestones and the separate Bradford Park target.
| Source | What it says |
|---|---|
| Original contract benchmark | Phase 1 "substantial completion" in February |
| Current change order, Sept. 2026 | Substantial completion in August 2027 |
| Friends of the Lowline, Phase 1 page | "On track to open in Summer 2027" |
| Friends of the Lowline, Get Involved page | "Phase 1 opening in fall 2027" |
| City spokesperson, Sept. 2026 | Path opens between Sheppard and Mount Pleasant streets in early 2028 |
| City spokesperson, Sept. 2026 | Larger Bradford Park phase could be finished in summer 2028 |
The gap between the dates follows from the redesign. "Substantial completion" in August 2027 is a construction milestone, and the city doesn't expect public access to begin until a few months after that. The city's dates are the ones tied to the newly approved change order. The nonprofit's Phase 1 page and Get Involved page still show 2027, which reflects the group's own outlook.
The first stretch scheduled to open, Sheppard Street to Mount Pleasant Street, is the northern part of the corridor. Bradford Park, at the southern end of Phase 1, comes later.
The Bridge Spot and the Parking Lots
Two places along the corridor are already in use, and the active construction will be closest to them.
The first is the Bridge Spot, the do-it-yourself concrete skatepark under I-26 near Huger Street. Charleston City Paper reported in 2024 that Trey Hankey, Jack Cox and Aaron Green started it in 2009, and that it has been community-run by Leigh and Vern since 2012. At the January 28, 2025 City Council meeting, a speaker said city officials had told him no phase of the Lowline would affect the Bridge Spot. The meeting minutes record seven public comments asking that it be preserved during construction. By Sept. 22, 2026, a Post and Courier photo showed construction fencing along the Lowline next to a skatepark under the overpass. How the earthworks will affect access to the skatepark is a reasonable question for the committee update next week.
The second is parking. The Post and Courier reported in 2025 that three gravel lots on Sheppard and Huger streets, about 120 spaces in total, would serve as access points to the path. The plan called for lighting coordinated with Dominion Energy and projected about $1 million a year in parking revenue to help maintain the park and lots. In July 2025, council approved a $390,239 amendment to Edifice's contract for work on the Phase I lots at Huger and Sheppard. The city's September statement that the lots had been upgraded suggests that work has started. The 2025 revenue estimate is still a projection about a park that hasn't opened.
The Sheppard Street South lot already served one public event. It was the designated parking for the December groundbreaking, which took place at the future park site behind The Daily Café.
Bradford Park Is the Piece Still Raising Money
The path is paid for mainly through the city's Cooper River Bridge tax increment financing district. Friends of the Lowline raises private money on top of that. Much of that private effort goes to Bradford Park, which the group describes as the main gathering spot at the southern end of Phase 1. The corridor widens there into open lawn and shade, a place meant for staying rather than passing through. The park is named for Tom Bradford, the group's founding board chair.
The Speedwell Foundation has pledged $2.5 million to match the first $2.5 million in donations, dollar for dollar. Both the Friends homepage and its Phase 1 page say $1.6 million of that match has not yet been claimed. The nonprofit also offers bench dedications. Bradford Park is on the later, summer 2028 track in the city's schedule, so this fundraising goes toward the final piece of Phase 1, not the first stretch to open.
The next public checkpoint is Oct. 27. Mayor William Cogswell said a more detailed Lowline update will go to council's traffic and transportation committee that day. The city's Lowline Project page is the official place to follow the project after that meeting.
If you live near Huger, Romney or Sheppard streets and want to know how two more years of corridor work could affect your block, Crown Coast follows peninsula projects like this one closely and is glad to talk it through. Work With Us.