Charleston leaders are weighing a proposal that seeks to improve bike infrastructure along St. Philip Street but ignores bicyclists’ calls for more support on King Street. The matter was deferred at Tuesday night’s city council meeting until August 9.
The measure is part of the Municipal-State Highway Project Agreement, a collaborative effort with the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT).
A previous plan, no longer being considered and originally proposed in 2020, would have brought a one-way southbound bike lane to King Street. The plan was lauded by cycling advocates, but complaints from King Street business owners and residents raised several red flags, according to city officials.
“How do you get there safely? There’s no bike facility at the head of King,” said Mike Seekings, city councilman and chair of the city’s Traffic and Transportation Committee. “What happens when you go down? How do you get back?”
The new proposal unanimously recommended by the city’s Traffic and Transportation Committee, but deferred Tuesday night, eliminates a lane of traffic on King Street between Calhoun and Broad streets, expands street parking and adds additional loading zones to keep large vehicles out of the way. It also moves the originally proposed bike lane to St. Philip Street and expands it to a bicycle boulevard — a low-traffic, low-speed roadway that optimizes cycling — from Line to Calhoun streets and a two-way dedicated bicycle track from Calhoun to George streets.
“That’s fantastic,” Seekings said. “It’s totally consistent with the People Pedal Plan. It was originally designated as just a bike boulevard, and we’re probably … going to do something even better.”
The dueling proposals deal with two downtown corridors that SCDOT highlighted among the most dangerous in the state.
In a presentation given by representatives from the SCDOT at Tuesday night’s Charleston City Council meeting, four downtown corridors landed in the top six for the highest number of crashes in the state:
- St. Philip Street between Line and George streets ranks sixth;
- Calhoun Street from 4th Street, near Lockwood Boulevard, to U.S. Highway 52 ranks fourth;
- King Street between Line and Broad streets is third;
- Meeting Street between Line and Broad streets ranks second.
New plan isn’t enough, advocates say
But several city council members, including Seekings, said they received nearly 4,000 emails from constituents on the issue, saying the current proposal falls short. Cycling advocates say the King Street bike lane would far better serve cyclists and business owners than the St. Philip Street compromise.
“[King Street] was a really good step in the right direction,” said Sylvie Baele, executive director of Second Chance Bikes. “There’s still a lot of people who don’t understand how to bike safely, and having even a one-way bike lane is a good opportunity to educate people. I would love to see a two-way bike lane on King Street, of course, because we know people will bike in both directions.”
In fact, Baele explains, plenty of people already do.
“People are going to continue to bike on King Street anyway, even if there is a bikeway on St. Philip Street, so we may as well make it safe for people to do so,” she said. “And this isn’t just for residents — tourists love to bike too. But they don’t know how to do it safely. If you create a dedicated bike lane, it’s obvious, and people will feel safer biking there.”
City officials chalked it up to simple math. There are four things people want on King Street, but only room for three. A traffic lane, loading zones, street parking and bike lanes. Seekings also said dedicated bike lanes would cause a bigger safety issue on the corridor.
“There are very few things in this world I deem to be impossible,” Seekings said. “This is one of them. There’s just not enough room. Remember, this is a road safety audit. … If I didn’t believe this was the best we could do — is it perfect? No! — But is it the best we can do? Absolutely. It would be irresponsible to put that bike lane on King Street and not put people in further danger.”
Seekings described it as an example of what he’s calling “micro-projects” — small actions that have a big impact. Painting crosswalks, reconfiguring intersections and other ways to calm traffic are part of that, he said.
City officials and SCDOT are encouraging cyclists to share the road on King Street with drivers, but cycling advocates say that the proposed “sharrows” won’t be enough to keep riders safe. Sharrows are meant to alert drivers to the presence of cyclists, but dedicated bike lanes actually keep them separated, Baele said.
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