Claims it won't ease traffic congestion
Johns Island - The extension of the Mark Clark Expressway will do little to alleviate traffic problems, and the $420 million allocated for the new freeway should be used to fix roads that are already here, an opposition group told about 250 island residents Monday.
Concerned Citizens of the Sea Islands billed their gathering at St. John's High School as a transportation improvement rally, but it was apparent that they don't want the Interstate 526 extension.
Expansion plans
A proposal to extend I-526 to the James Island Connector is drawing criticism. The highway would bring up to 40 percent more growth to the Johns Island, according to a BCD Council of Governments Study.
Bumper stickers were laid out on tables that read "Let's Nix 526," handouts said it was not the best use of tax dollars, and a petition was made available for those opposed to the new highway.
Organizers brought in the Coastal Conservation League to say the road won't help, and they recruited a Gullah/Geechee official to say the road will affect the existing culture of the islands.
"We will not see traffic relief," Megan Desrosiers of the Coastal Conservation League said, citing a study done by the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments.
The study showed the I-526 addition will ease congestion on Main Road, but she said the extension will do nothing to help overcrowding on Savannah Highway, Folly Road and S.C. Highway 61 in West Ashley.
Desrosiers and others on the committee want spending delayed on the road's extension until a study ranks road projects on Johns Island and improvements to traffic arteries already in place are made.
At the root of most people's concerns is the effect the new road will have on growth.
"Widening a road to deal with traffic issues is like loosening your belt to deal with obesity," said Marquetta Goodwine, head of the Gullah/Geechee Nation. "Build it and they will come."
Thomas Legare, co-chair of Concerned Citizens of the Sea Islands, said, "It will bring unwanted growth."
Jim Seabrook, 77, has lived on Johns Island all his life. Seabrook said he thinks the road will be built but worries about the growth it could cause.
"We want our roads fixed," he said. "I like progress, but some things need to be considered more."
Johns Island resident Jim Pope, 53, has been living on the island since he was 8.
"We don't mind people coming to share the island if they respect it, but if they jam all of the people over here with mini-malls, we will just become another Mount Pleasant," he said. "I know it can't stay rural forever, but the Mark Clark will take Johns Island apart."
Charleston County Councilman Curtis Inabinet of Ravenel urged residents to get involved, but he predicted that the road will be built.
"I'm of the opinion that the Mark Clark extension is going to happen," he said.
Inabinet said $99 million already has been allocated to Charleston County for the road, and he sensed the train was on the track.
"If we enter into a dialogue, it won't be a complete consensus, but I think it will be a point we can live with."
