What is the issue?
Charleston County Roadwise half-cent sales tax Transportation Program listed the widening of Maybank Highway on Johns Island as a priority project. Unwilling to see a five lane road like Savannah Highway cut through the center of rural Johns Island, the League hired urban transportation planning firm, Hall Planning and Engineering (HPE) to study alternatives to conventional widening. HPE’s solution was a “pitchfork” plan that developed a network of parallel and complementary streets at the congested intersection of River Road and Maybank. Using a network helps drivers take right and left turns and avoid gridlock at the traffic light. HPE determined the remainder of Maybank is capable of carrying current and future traffic after the construction of this grid. Ultimately this alternative relieves the congestion of Maybank without sacrificing the tree canopy and without widening the remainder of the road. This plan was endorsed in August 2009 by Charleston County Council, the City of Charleston and the Urban Land Institute. This month, the environmental assessment process has been restarted and a public meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 17th at Haut Gap Middle School on Johns Island. The widening of Maybank Highway is still on the table as an alternative and we must once again advocate for the pitchfork to bring the needed traffic relief and maintain the integrity of Johns Island at the same time.
How would it affect South Carolina?
The bottleneck at the intersection of Maybank Highway and River Road will not be relieved by widening Maybank Highway: that option would simply force more cars through that congestion point. The pitchfork will instead, give drivers chances to turn north or south to their destination sooner and avoid the bottleneck. Another major flaw with the widening plan is the impact a 5-lane high-speed thoroughfare would have on the character of Johns Island as the corridor develops. This type of thoroughfare attracts big box/strip retail and automobile dependent businesses: such development is contradictory to the area, now and in the future. In addition, the widening plan does not address or relieve safety issues and concerns about Johns Island roads. Roads that do not provide choices for the driver, are not pedestrian or bicycle friendly and diminish local character are not the roads we need on our rural Sea Islands. Developing without adherence to local character and heritage will transform our unique sea island into monotonous suburbia.
What can you do about it?
The upcoming public meeting (April 17th from 6-8pm at Haut Gap Middle School on Johns Island) is an important opportunity to voice your support for the Pitchfork plan. You can also leave comments here: www.ccroadwise.org
- A street network on Maybank Highway will improve traffic congestion and link businesses and neighborhoods along the road.
- Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians will have more choices: walking to the local store or avoiding commuter traffic by utilizing local roads are now viable and safe options.
- Tree canopies and rural and residential character of Johns Island are protected from poor road design and associated sprawl.
- A suburban road will tear through a rural sea island
- Associated development will not complement the islands history or its current residents.
- County tax money will be spent on a detrimental road project.
Related Articles
City of Charleston's Johns Island Plan
Related Links
"Recent op-ed on transportation choices"httpImages of Maybank Highway Improvements
Hall Planning and Engineering Report on Maybank Highway
