Key intersections on Johns Island targeted for turn lanes to cut delays Previous story: Johns Island road plan advances, published 08/28/09 Road projects costing tens of millions of dollars are planned for Johns Island, but a series of modest changes to key intersections could happen faster and provide some traffic relief. The intersections where Charleston County is engineering improvements roughly form a ring around the most developed part of the sea island. River, Murraywood, Brownswood, Main, Bohicket and Plowground roads, along with Maybank Highway, all have intersections targeted for road work. Most of the planned changes involve adding turning lanes to reduce delays. The county hopes to find money for the construction work as it evaluates other road projects funded by the half-cent transportation sales tax. "One thing we will do is see if there are any cost savings associated with the Maybank Highway project," said Kurt Taylor, the county's assistant administrator for transportation. A Charleston County Council committee recommended Thursday that the county proceed with the design phase of improvements for Maybank Highway. The agreed-upon plan calls for adding a center turn lane to parts of Maybank between Main and River roads, and creating a third lane between River Road and the Stono River bridge. The county had originally planned to widen Maybank Highway to four lanes, so the approved project could be less expensive than budgeted. The county has $30 million earmarked for the work, split between half-cent funds and federal dollars. The Maybank Highway improvements were recommended as part of a package of road plans for Johns Island that included engineering work for the intersection improvements, and a study of a potential route for a new parkway across Johns Island to Kiawah and Seabrook islands. While construction of the intersection improvements is currently unfunded, a few of the intersections might be able to be incorporated into other plans, such as the scheduled repaving of Main Road funded with federal stimulus money. One of the intersection projects calls for extending a center turn lane on Main Road from the intersection with Maybank Highway to the intersection with Brownswood Road. With Main Road already scheduled for repaving, it would likely make sense to address the center turn lane issue at the same time. "We're working with (the S.C. Department of Transportation) on that as part of their stimulus project," Taylor said. At a Maybank Highway intersection at the other end of Johns Island, a new right-turn lane onto River Road is planned for traffic coming from the direction of James Island. That same stretch of Maybank Highway is part of the larger road project involving adding a new lane, so there's some potential for funding the shorter-term intersection improvement as part of the longer-term Maybank Highway work. "In our opinion, that one would qualify for funds from the Maybank Highway project, although council has not approved that," Taylor said. He said the hope is that work on the intersections could be accomplished relatively quickly, in terms of months rather than the years the larger road projects likely will take.

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