Toll road foes, fans speak out

What they say Supporters of a toll road across Johns Island say it would: -- Provide a faster and safer route to the southern end of Johns Island and to Kiawah and Seabrook islands. -- Divert traffic from other roads on Johns Island, making them safer routes. -- Provide a relatively quick solution to some of the island's traffic problems because it could be completed by 2012. -- Make it easier for people who work on Kiawah and Seabrook to get to and from their jobs. -- Provide better service for visitors attending the 2012 PGA tournament on Kiawah Island. The event will bring an estimated $84 million to the region's economy. Opponents of building a toll road across Johns Island say the project: -- Is a big and expensive step, and alternatives haven't been explored. -- Doesn't address traffic problems at some of the island's most-congested intersections, including at Maybank Highway and Bohicket and Main roads and the intersection of U.S. 17 and Main Road, one of the gateways to the island. -- Doesn't include plans to do needed repairs on the island's existing roads. -- Wouldn't be affordable for most people who work on Kiawah and Seabrook islands. -- Will encourage more development on the largely rural island.   JOHNS ISLAND — It was standing-room-only in the auditorium at St. Johns High School on Thursday as several hundred people gathered to let Charleston County Council know what they thought about a possible toll road across the island. At least two-thirds of the audience appeared to oppose the road being built. They made their feelings known with thunderous applause for those who spoke against the project. County Council held the meeting to get public comments on a possible toll road, known as the Sea Islands Parkway, being built across the island. The parkway would begin at Maybank Highway and would stretch across the island. Before the meeting, Johns Island resident Henry Rivers, who is strongly opposed to the road, said, "It's going to split the island in two." The road, he said, will only bring more development to the island. It's only being built to better serve visitors who will attend a PGA golf tournament on Kiawah Island in 2012, he said. But Frank McNulty, mayor of the town of Seabrook Island, said during the public-comments session that he and other Seabrook residents were not supporting the road for selfish reasons. "I don't have any horns," he said. He supports building the road because it would be safer than existing roads, he said. For him, "this situation has nothing to do with a golf tournament." The idea of building a road across the island has been around since the mid-1990s. Council is looking at it again now to explore ways to reduce traffic congestion and make the island's roads safer, some members have said. Although the majority of the crowd Thursday was opposed to the road, an engineer hired by the county started the session with a presentation in support of it. Chris Carlsten, an engineer with TranSystems, made a presentation he had conducted on traffic and road options on Johns Island. Carlsten said that after conducting the study, he thinks building the road across the island is "the preferred alternative" to reduce traffic and safety problems. It's a much better option than widening Bohicket and River roads, Johns Island's two main arteries, he said. Carlsten said he only looked at the road itself, not options for paying for it. But he understands there is no money available to build such a road. So a toll road may be the only option, he said. He estimated that the complete toll road project would cost about $155.7 million. Carlsten's study was conducted in October and was an update of a 2001 study on a road across Johns Island. The county received 346 comments from citizens on traffic and development, Carlsten said. More than 60 percent of those who commented were in favor of building the new road, he said. Based on that data, Carlsten recommended building a road with a limited number of entry and exit points. It should be a four-lane road, and construction should minimize harm to live oak trees and the environment, he said. In Carlsten's study, participants said the most-important considerations in deciding how to proceed with roads on Johns Island were safety and preserving the island's stately live oak trees and wetlands. Some people at the meeting Thursday agreed with the study. Gene Danielson, a resident of Seabrook Island, said "it's an infrastructure issue." "Nobody is stopping development, but they want to stop roads." But Carmen Rivers, who lives on Johns Island, said the push to build the road is coming from residents of Kiawah and Seabrook islands who simply want "to get downtown fast." But, she said, "that's never been the way of life here. You can't change the culture because it meets your needs and wants."

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