Making highway 3 lanes from Stono River to River Road would ease traffic,
advisers say
The Urban Land Institute's
recommendations for Maybank Highway.
Previous story
Keep us rural, residents say: Future of Maybank Highway
debated, published 02/06/09
Expanding Maybank Highway to three lanes from the Stono River to River Road
would mainly solve traffic problems and preserve the rural character of
Johns Island, a group of consultants from the Urban Land Institute says.
Charleston County last October called on the institute to help the county
and the city of Charleston decide: widen the two-lane highway to four lanes;
create instead a network of streets to disperse traffic; or use some
combination of both plans.
The institute brought a new option into the mix. Its plan calls for building
a second lane for traffic coming onto Johns Island from James Island over
the Stono River. The two incoming lanes would run to River Road, after which
the highway would revert to a two-lane road. Only one lane is needed for
traffic leaving the island, the team said.
The institute pulls together voluntary teams of professionals to offer an
outsider's view and make recommendations on controversial construction
projects.
The team for Maybank Highway presented its plan to county and city officials
on Friday. It also calls for a secondary road that runs from Maybank near
the Stono River to River Road. That road would pull traffic off Maybank
that's heading down River Road to the southern parts of the island.
And, the plan included some smaller secondary roads intersecting Maybank.
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said the team "made an excellent recommendation."
He might want to add or change a few details, he said, but overall, "it
makes better what we're all working on."
Improving the area around the intersection of Maybank Highway and River Road
is essential, both city and county officials have said, because traffic
backs up to the Stono River during rush hour.
Team member Stephen Navarro, president of the Furman Co., a commercial real
estate firm in Greenville, said the plan submitted by the city which
involved creating a network of streets resembling a "pitchfork," was very
close to what the team came up with. But, he said, the city's plan would
have required drivers on Maybank to make a decision to leave the highway to
travel along the network of smaller streets. People just aren't likely to do
that, Navarro said.
""This plan," he said, "handles all the traffic. Why would you over-engineer
it" by building a four-lane highway all the way to Main Road.
"Bigger roads are not the answer," said County Councilman Dickie Schweers.
He was apprehensive about the county widening the highway to four lanes as
the city requested in 2002, he said. The institute's team "recommended a
surgical, Johns Island-style approach."
Navarro said satisfying the people who live on Johns Island was the first
priority, followed by those who travel to Kiawah and Seabrook and those from
the rest of the region.
But County Councilman Paul Thurmond said he wishes the team also had been
charged with looking at River and Bohicket roads. That would have brought
into the discussion people traveling to Kiawah and Seabrook islands.
But, he's not opposed to the team's plan, he said. "In my opinion, it works
with a limited-access road" that runs from Maybank to the southern end of
Johns Island. There aren't enough roads on Johns Island to handle traffic
now or in the future, he said. And road improvements don't increase
capacity.
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