Weight limit won't be posted on aging Johns Island bridge

Large emergency vehicles will be allowed to use an old bridge on Bohicket Road in the coming months, contrary to previous statements made by state transportation officials. The structural soundness of the Johns Island bridge over Bohicket Creek often was cited at public meetings earlier this year as a reason to replace the aging structure. In addition, state transportation officials familiar with the bridge replacement project said in January that if the bridge were not replaced, it would be "posted" with a weight limit in six months. Residents of Johns Island and barrier islands worried about the ability of emergency vehicles to reach them if the bridge was off limits to larger vehicles. Kiawah Mayor William Wert supported the project, as did St. John's Fire District Chief Karl Ristow, who said response time would triple to 15 or 17 minutes if his crews had to take a detour around the bridge. Ristow, like many others, was under the impression that the bridge would be posted as early as July with a reduced weight limit. "I don't know where people got that notion," said Jim Feda, director of maintenance with the state Department of Transportation. "It needs to be replaced, but it still is not at the point where it needs to be posted. If the bridge wasn't safe, we wouldn't let traffic on it." Feda said that although the bridge is in "borderline" condition, the soonest it could be posted would be December, when its next safety inspection is scheduled. In the meantime, Charleston County resident Andrew Geer sued the state and a county zoning board that approved the removal of grand trees in conjunction with the bridge replacement project. Geer says in the suit that the state used the weight-limit restriction as a scare tactic to force the hand of Charleston County Board of Zoning Appeal members. In February, board members granted a variance for the removal of five grand trees along Bohicket Road that would need to come down for the Bohicket Creek and Hoopstick Creek bridges to be replaced. Geer is asking a circuit judge overturn the county's decision. "The DOT used safety issues as its trump card," Geer said. Feda said the suit will not hold up the project. It will be sent out for bids in July unless a court order is issued halting the project.

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