Rock Hill gets record $10M federal grant for downtown pedestrian bridge project

Rock Hill had to wait a year to get federal money for a new pedestrian bridge, but that waiting paid off for the city.

Rock Hill City Council accepted a record $10.1 million grant Monday that will pay for the design and building of a walkway bridge over Dave Lyle Boulevard and railroad tracks downtown. The South Carolina Department of Transportation will manage the project.

The grant comes a year after a request for half that amount was denied. It would’ve paid for some of the bridge, while the new grant will pay the full amount.

“This is the largest single grant that the city of Rock Hill has ever been awarded competitively, so far as our records go back,” said city office of government affairs director Jeremy Winkler. “And that’s pretty far.”

Working with federal funding through the state transportation department will add layers and time to the project, compared to the city doing it all alone. But for the price, council members unanimously voted to take the grant money.

“It does delay the project a little bit,” Mayor John Gettys said. “For $10 million, we’ll go through a new hoop or two to get there.”

Dave Lyle overpass bridge plans

Bridge plans aren’t new. Knowledge Park planners identified a pedestrian path over Dave Lyle as a key need in 2018.

In 2019 former city manager turned developer Joe Lanford presented plans to Rock Hill officials for a $50 million project called The Link.

That apartment and parking deck proposal at Dave Lyle, Main and White streets would become part of an urban park known as Storyline. It would run from Fountain Park to Winthrop University and include a walking bridge from the former Herald site at 132 W. Main St. to The Link on the opposite side of Dave Lyle, Lanford said then.

The bridge concept remained even as considerable changes unfolded for the long-time newspaper site.

In 2019 it was slated for redevelopment as upscale senior living. In 2020 there were commercial additions. By 2022 it was a mix of apartments and commercial space, then last year city officials heard plans for office, retail and apartments.

The former Herald building has been demolished but noticeable construction hasn’t begun.

New federal grant funds local projects

The grant comes from a new pilot program that started awarding money last year.

The Reconnecting Communities federal grants received more than 400 requests in 2022. North Carolina communities submitted eight, and three came from South Carolina. One was a South Carolina Department of Transportation request for $5.1 million toward the Dave Lyle bridge project.

The federal grant program awarded $185 million for 45 projects nationwide. The only one in the Carolinas was $1 million for West End improvements in Charlotte.

Last year the program received 682 applications nationwide, at $11.6 billion of requests. That’s more than three times the amount of available money. Among more than a dozen applications from the Carolinas, three were awarded.

Rock Hill got $10.1 million for the bridge, while Fort Mill got $160,000 to study and find improvements for downtown parking there. A Walnut Cove, North Carolina, greenway project north of Greensboro was the other grant.

Plans for pedestrian bridge over Dave Lyle

Dave Lyle runs like a major artery through Rock Hill. It connects downtown businesses and public services to south side neighborhoods, shopping at the Galleria Mall or strip retail centers, major industrial hubs near the Catawba River and recreational areas even closer to the water.

Downtown, the road runs by the railroad track that long ago birthed the city.

“(The project will) reconnect these two sides of Rock Hill that have been separated for so long by the railroad,” Winkler said.

The new bridge will be designed and built for pedestrians and cyclists. Rock Hill got one of just 19 grants nationwide that will fully fund construction for submitted projects. Money will pay for everything from engineering the bridge to public participation meetings.

Bridge timing, city owned property downtown

Prior to news of the federal funding, Rock Hill listed the new bridge on its capital improvement plan for projects to be funded from 2023 to 2027. That plan lists vehicles, improvements and projects to cost $100,000 or more.

The first year of the plan is budgeted, while remaining projects are planned but aren’t guaranteed for funding within the five years.

The bridge wasn’t one of the 116 capital projects identified in that first year. That list combines for $21.8 million. Instead, the bridge is one of 179 capital projects in the five-year span at $163.3 million.

The capital improvement plan outlines a $6.8 million bridge to connect Old Town, University Center and Winthrop University by linking parking decks at The Engage and The Link. Without the federal grant, funding would’ve come through tax increment financing bonds paid back by city, county and school district tax revenue.

One advantage the city has in building the bridge is property.

The city owns seven parcels at almost 3 acres North of Dave Lyle. It’s almost the full length of West White, until it reaches Wilson Street.

On the opposite side of Dave Lyle, Rock Hill owns most of the property between Main and White streets including the entire Dave Lyle frontage and parking lot space down East White.