Saturday, October 19, 2024 News · Press Releases

Coastal Conservation League releases maps showing impacts of potential I-526 Extension

by Lily Abromeit

The Coastal Conservation League has released maps showing the potential impacts the proposed route of the I-526/Mark Clark Expressway Extension would have on Charleston County communities.  

On November 5th, Charleston County residents will vote on a sales tax that prioritizes the outdated, overpriced, and destructive Mark Clark / I-526 Extension. If funded, the extension project would destroy 38 acres of wetlands; dump pollution into the Stono River; wipe out over 46 acres of the James Island County Park; increase suburban sprawl on rural Johns Island; and plow through the middle of historic settlement communities, displacing families who have been on the land for generations. This is not just a road; it is a threat to our environment and our Lowcountry way of life. 

The Conservation League worked with a consulting firm to review the proposed route for the interstate extension using the county’s engineered road designs.  

This work resulted in renderings of key intersections along the route and a map of the interstate extension and it’s impacts in its entirety.  

The renderings help visualize the devastating consequences of extending I-526 and what that looks like for our environment and communities. 

The renderings help visualize the devastating consequences of extending I-526 and what that looks like for our environment and communities. The resulting maps show where the primary, secondary, and tertiary impacts will occur.  

Primary impacts are full property takes/acquisitions, partial property takes/acquisitions, compromising development or redevelopment potential, loss of primary direct access, loss of tree canopy/existing character, and separation of neighborhoods.  

Secondary impacts are loss/degradation of access due to medians or proximity to ramps, eventual change/increase in land use intensity or use, direct traffic increase, and direct noise increase.  

Tertiary impacts are visual impacts from structures, loss of habitat or wildlife corridors, character change in the area, indirect increase in noise, and increase in commercial traffic intrusion. 

Full renderings and maps can be found here: coastalconservationleague.org/projects/i-526-extension/ 

The I-526 Extension is the only priority project listed for the special sales and use tax on the November ballot, meaning the money would first be spent to fund this project, draining funding from other priorities. The Conservation League believes the county has higher priorities, including completing road projects that were voted on in the 2016 referendum but are yet to be finished. Although funding for the Greenbelt program—which helps fund conservation projects for land protection and establish public access to land, bike, and pedestrian infrastructure—is listed on this tax, the allocation has been cut drastically compared to the 2016 and 2004 sales taxes, making it a bad deal. 

More information on the Conservation League’s stance on this project and tax here: coastalconservationleague.org/projects/i-526-extension/ 

For full-size, high-resolution images of renderings and maps, email Lily Abromeit at lilya@scccl.org  


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