Conservation League plan would fix 5 problem areas Extending Interstate 526 won't be necessary if the state simply improves roads and intersections at five different points in West Ashley and on James and Johns islands, Coastal Conservation League leaders say. The environmental group has submitted its 59-page proposal to the S.C. Department of Transportation, the agency responsible for the I-526 project. The league hopes its plan will be on a narrowed-down list of "reasonable alternatives" released this spring. "Our plan will cost significantly less money, have less environmental impact and more economic development" than the $420 million proposal to extend the expressway across parts of James and Johns islands, said Megan Derosiers, the league's director of conservation programs. She said the league's plan will cost less than $220 million. The group soon will complete an in-depth cost estimate on the proposal, she said. David Kinard, project manager for DOT, said the agency now is looking more closely at 22 options it presented to the public last fall, the Coastal Conservation League's proposal and a new plan that the city of Charleston recently submitted. The city's plan includes building a parkway, not an expressway, along the path originally proposed for the extension of I-526. The parkway would not be elevated, Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said, and would have speed limits of about 35 mph. Kinard said DOT likely will narrow the list of alternatives to between four and eight proposals, then hold another round of public meetings in the spring to get citizens' reactions. CCL's alternative - Coastal Conservation League's proposed alternative to extending I-526 (56 page PDF) The short list of proposals will include those that best reduce congestion and improve safety on existing roads, improve regional mobility, limit the number of people and businesses that must relocate and reduce the impact on the area's wetlands, Kinard said. The department will determine an estimated cost of only those projects it places on the list of reasonable alternatives. Derosiers said the league and a team of consultants from the Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin firm, looked at the traffic on Savannah Highway in West Ashley and on parts of James and Johns islands and located the five spots where it snarled the most. The group then developed ways to fix those particular areas. "Our alternative would solve more problems," Derosiers said. "It addresses the causes of the traffic snarls." City's new proposal (PDF) The city of Charleston recently submitted a new proposal for an "at-grade," not elevated, parkway, with speed limits of about 35 miles per hour along the original approved route for I-526. The plan includes improvements to two places on Savannah Highway, one near where it connects with I-526 and the other between Canterbury and Betsy roads. It would add a center median to improve turning, consolidate businesses' driveways to improve traffic flow, and build smaller streets just off the highway to give cars another route to travel. Some of those roads could be paid for by DOT and other would be financed privately. Josh Martin, the league's program director, said the plan also calls for developing hubs of small businesses and some housing along the highway instead of large stores such as Kmart with huge open parking lots. That would make the area economically stronger, he said. The league's plan also calls for building networks of smaller roads at two intersections on James Island, one at Maybank Highway and the other at the James Island connector. The additional smaller roads would not only create more capacity for cars but also would divert traffic from some of the most congested intersections, Martin said. And instead of a giant mound of dirt where the Connector meets Folly Road, the plan calls for a boulevard, with a median and sidewalks. On Johns Island, the plan includes a "pitchfork" for Maybank Highway, which roughly describes a proposed road network from the Stono River to River Road. Charleston city officials already have approved the plan and Charleston County officials are considering it instead of a plan to widen Maybank Highway. The plan lays the groundwork to develop village-like hubs along the highway that include homes and shops. Riley said that he can't support the Coastal Conservation League's plan because he doesn't think it will do enough to reduce traffic pressure and increase safety. He also thinks the area needs another route for hurricane evacuations. But he supports "a hybrid" between the league's plan and a high-speed expressway. The area needs more roads that connect James and Johns islands to West Ashley and North Charleston, Riley said. "Think of it as another highway that better connects different areas," he said of the city's plan. Charleston County Councilman Dickie Schweers, who hadn't heard yet of the mayor's proposal, said he thinks the Coastal Conservation League's plan "should be thoroughly studied." The county has changed direction recently in how it thinks about road building, he said. It's considering building a network of streets instead of widening Maybank Highway and although it's planning to widen Johnnie Dodds Boulevard in Mount Pleasant, that plan also includes sidewalks and bike paths. Interstates are built to go from state to state, Schweers said. "In town, they don't really do well." They've degraded the quality of life for some people, he said. County Council Chairman Teddie Pryor, who also hadn't heard yet about Riley's plan, said he supports completing the Mark Clark Expressway. "Folks voted to have 526 completed," he said. "It's what the taxpayers want." He also said he hopes the project doesn't encounter any more delays. "The longer we wait, the more it's going to cost us," he said.

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