Network of streets favored

Consultants recommend dropping 4-lane proposal Johns Island — A network of new two-lane streets would be a better solution to traffic than widening Maybank Highway, a consultant told a crowd of more than 100 people Wednesday evening. Florida-based Hall Planning and Engineering had been hired by Charleston, Charleston County and the Coastal Conservation League to evaluate the options. Company President Richard Hall essentially agreed with what the city has been advocating: that Charleston County's Roadwise program should drop plans to make Maybank Highway four lanes wide, plus a turn lane, in favor of the new-streets alternative. The thinking is that an expanded street network, particularly around Maybank Highway and River Road, would spread traffic out and improve traffic flow, without damaging the rural character of Johns Island. Charleston's Maybank Highway plan Charleston County's Roadwise plan Road-widening projects would threaten grand live oaks that line the rural byways. A top priority, Hall said, should be eliminating the bottleneck on Maybank Highway approaching River Road, where traffic crossing the Stono River is squeezed from two lanes on the bridge to one on Maybank. The concept favored by Hall calls for creating a two-lane road parallel to Maybank Highway, between the bridge and Fenwick Hall. Each two-lane road would be one-way, doubling the lanes to and from the bridge. Near Fenwick Hall, more two-lane roads would be added, all leading to River Road. With at least four ways to get from the bridge to River Road, traffic would be dispersed along with the backups at the intersection, Hall said. The proposed network of roads would resemble a pitchfork, with the bridge being the handle. "I think the pitchfork idea sounds good," said Marissa Reilly of Johns Island. "Something needs to be done about that bottleneck." Hall said his report is not in its final form yet. County Council is expected to review the report later this month. Members of the audience for Hall's report, at the Johns Island branch of the Charleston County Library, were largely supportive of the concept. Some peppered him with questions about traffic, trees and property rights. Where and how, asked several people, would the city or county acquire the rights of way needed for all these new roads? Hall said some property owners have already been contacted and agreed with the plan. He said many of the proposed roads would be centered around three village-like areas the city would like to see develop along Maybank Highway, and property owners would likely allow the roads because it would increase their property values. Pearse Webster, of Wadmalaw, commutes daily to James Island but is not interested in seeing Maybank Highway widened. Webster didn't really like the idea of creating lots of new streets, either. He said it seemed preferable to widening Maybank Highway, but he objected to the city's concept of town centers. "If I wanted to live in a place where multi-story buildings come right up to the road, I would have moved to New York," he said. Hall said that if what Johns Island really needed was a four-lane Maybank Highway, he would have recommended that option.

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