Charleston’s rampant recent growth has exacerbated flooding and road challenges for residents and visitors as infrastructure struggles to keep up with the influx of people and new buildings crowding the city and surrounding areas.
While risks from flooding may not be going anywhere anytime soon, several projects serve to mitigate the harm that floodwaters do to homes and businesses. Similarly, new traffic projects should offer drivers additional options on their commutes or ways to cut commutes altogether.
Area leaders say they’re hopeful these projects, when finished and taken together, will make a significant impact on the Charleston area even as it continues to expand, pushing more development — and improvements — outward toward North Charleston, past Mount Pleasant and onto the sea islands.
“Growth shouldn’t mean that we lose the quality of life that we have and what we love,” Charleston County Council Vice-chair Larry Kobrovsky told the Charleston City Paper this week.
Kobrovsky said specific projects to bolster rural communities can keep them from losing their sense of place while still accommodating the Lowcountry’s growth.
“These cookie-cutter solutions proposed by national developers are often done with no sense or regard for the residents we have here. Once those rural areas are gone, you can’t get them back.”
New bridge into town
The under-construction bike-pedestrian bridge spanning the Ashley River between downtown Charleston’s hospital district and West Ashley has been a long-awaited boon to residents on both sides of the water.
The Ashley River Crossing project went through several iterations and designs before construction began in January. But progress since then has been quick.
“It feels amazing,” said Charleston City Councilman Ross Appel. “I’m excited about providing a safe and fun way for bikers, runners and walkers to access downtown from West Ashley for either work or play.”
Appel represents Charleston’s District 11, which encompasses parts of West Ashley, including the area in which the new bridge is being built.
“For all the years that the project has gone through design, permitting, grant applications, and public meetings, the actual construction makes it real, which is thrilling!” said Katie Zimmerman, executive director of local mobility advocacy group Charleston Moves.
“Because the bridge crossing connects directly to the West Ashley Greenway, Maryville Bikeway, and Medical District, and is relatively short and flat, means we are going to see so many people using it when construction is completed. It’s easy to envision that usage now that some of the bridge is actually built.”
The Ashley River Crossing is estimated to cost around $90 million. This includes the cost of the bridge itself, as well as upgrades to surrounding intersections. The project is largely federally funded, with the City of Charleston, Charleston County, the state of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina also contributing. The project is on schedule for completion in summer 2027.
Project to help neighborhood
Construction began in March on a $5.8 million flooding solution project in the Barberry Woods neighborhood of Johns Island.
The neighborhood has long struggled with flooding issues, which often block access due to the neighborhood having only a single entryway, cutting off residents from emergency services and causing prolonged impacts.
The S.C. Office of Resilience (SCOR) partnered with the city of Charleston on the project. About $4.9 million is funded by the SCOR’s ARPA Stormwater Infrastructure Program.
“Johns Island has long needed flooding relief in this area, and we’re grateful for SCOR’s partnership in making this project a reality,” Charleston Mayor William Cogswell said in a March 12 press release. “Once completed, it will significantly improve the quality of life for residents.”
Charleston communications director Deja McMillan did not respond to July requests for comment.
The project includes a flood bypass channel, wetland storage cells, maintenance berms and features for passive recreation, like a pedestrian walkway, bridge and educational signage. The City of Charleston will also replant 5,000 native trees and 8,900 native shrubs throughout the entire site, creating a nature-based flood mitigation solution.
“We’re smooth sailing right now,” SCOR officials said in a statement. “There have been no significant changes since construction started, and nothing unexpected has come up. We’re on schedule and anticipate completion by the end of the calendar year.”
Expanding busy, clogged road
Charleston County and city officials are working with the state of South Carolina on a plan to expand Maybank Highway between River Road and the Paul Gelegotis Bridge, also informally known as the Stono River Bridge that connects James and Johns islands.
Coming onto Johns Island from the bridge are two lanes of traffic that become the so-called Northern Pitchfork. Going the opposite way, two lanes condense into one, creating massive traffic congestion on the bridge and stretches of road on either side.
“It should be all hands on deck to get this project done,” Kobrovsky said. “It doesn’t cost as much as other projects would, it makes sense and it would make a difference in people’s lives.”
Kobrovsky added that the rejection of a county sales tax referendum last year that would have funded a large-scale expansion for Interstate 526 increases the need for smaller projects like this to be prioritized. Kobrovsky campaigned heavily against the referendum, calling it “fiscal madness.” But he said its rejection was not a rejection of the community’s need for traffic help.
“I thought it was wrong to put all of our eggs in one basket,” he said. “This would show the people who live there that we weren’t rejecting their needs.”
The corridor is currently owned by the state, creating a roadblock for community leaders to start construction.
“There’s such a patchwork that for most people, it’s like hieroglyphics,” Kobrovsky said. “It’s hard to get things done, and that does create a problem.”
Both the county and city of Charleston have broached the topic of taking ownership of the stretch of road to enable the project to move forward. But nothing has been decided yet.
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