West Ashley roads suffer from traffic and floods. Can county's road sales tax fix that? (2024)

Patrick O’Brien schedules his life around avoiding as much traffic as possible, but living in West Ashley makes that difficult.

He heads to work before the sun rises, knowing that if he leaves just 10 minutes later, he’ll be stuck in bumper-to-bumper gridlock.

He’s not the only resident who makes such adjustments. Some simply avoid certain roads altogether that are known to be prone to problems, namely heavy traffic and excessive flooding when it rains.

But multiple projects based in West Ashley on Charleston County’s project list for the third half-cent transportation tax aim to ease some of those burdens.

The county is proposing to extend the tax in order to raise $5.4 billion for infrastructure projects. A referendum will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.

County Council selected 13 road projects, with four of those in West Ashley. If passed, $506.5 million would be raised through the tax for those projects meant to help with traffic and flooding.

However, Alex Owsiak, the county capital programs manager, said the county has not done any studies on any of the West Ashley projects yet, meaning any plans for how to fix these roads are not set in stone.

The only project labeled as a priority from the county’s project list is the Mark Clark Extension, a 9.5-mile road project that would link the end of Interstate 526 in West Ashley to the James Island Connector by running four lanes across a corner of Johns Island and part of James Island.

According to the county, the Mark Clark Extension would cost around $1.8 billion, which is more than a third of the money that would be raised by the tax. The project has stirred controversy, with a couple residents and two environmental groups filing a lawsuit against the county on July 30.

The lawsuit, filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Coastal Conservation League and county residents Mary Edna Fraser and Glenda L. Miller, claimed the sales tax referendum violates state law by combining several distinct issues in a single yes-or-no question. The groups argue the issues should be offered to voters as separate questions, allowing individuals to decide on the Mark Clark Extension by itself.

Charleston County and the SELC together filed a proposed schedule for the lawsuit, which was immediately approved by Circuit Judge Jennifer McCoy. The order sets the lawsuit for a speedy trial, with pretrial briefs and responses due before the end of August and a hearing on the merits of the case to be held the first week of September.

Savannah Highway

Owsiak said the thought on this $174 million project would be to extend the six-lane section from Dobbin Road to Main Road and add flyover ramps to allow traffic to flow more freely on and off Johns Island.

O’Brien, a Carolina Bay resident, drives from West Ashley to Kiawah Island every day for work. He said Savannah Highway — particularly the section between Dobbin Road and Main Road — seems to “be the bane of many other people’s existence” due to the traffic it accumulates. Luckily, he doesn’t experience just how bad traffic can get because he leaves between 6 and 6:15 a.m. If he left any later, though, he would be stuck in the middle of it.

“I’ve been driving that road for 15 years, so I remember when it was kind of quiet, kind of an easy intersection,” O’Brien said. “Now, it’s probably one of the worst intersections in Charleston.”

O’Brien said the biggest problem is the sheer volume of cars on the road, and a traffic light at Main Road that never seems to get enough cars through on the turn signal. He added the traffic invites people to cut in line for the turn lane, which only makes it worse.

O’Brien said an overpass would make the most sense, because people then could go over the Savannah Highway and avoid the light.

“Nobody would ever have to stop for the light,” O’Brien said. “If you’re going south on Highway 17, you would just hit a flyover and go right over Highway 17 onto Main Road. That seems like that would be the perfect solution.”

Ashley River Road

The tax also would raise $102 million to add more lanes to Ashley River Road, or S.C. Highway 61, from Bees Ferry Road to Old Parsonage Road, including new bridges over Church Creek and the CSX rail line, with a multiuse path or a sidewalk/bike lane combination.

Rachael Reese, a resident of Village Green, said she goes out of her way to avoid Ashley River Road.

“I avoid it because it is only one lane and has several lights that slow it down,” Reese said. “If I go Bees Ferry to Glenn McConnell, I will at least be moving most of the time rather than sitting in stand-still traffic.”

Reese said additional lanes or even a traffic circle could “help keep things moving.”

Owsiak acknowledged there are a lot of grand oak trees along the corridor, so what the county can do depends on what traffic studies show because of the trees. The project may be limited to a three-lane section with two left turn lanes so turning traffic can get out of the through lane, but it may also be able to expand to four lanes.

Flood mitigation

This $36.5 million project is meant to reduce road closures during heavy rains and high tides by improving the US-17/SC-61 off-ramp from the Ashley River Memorial Bridge.

County Councilman Brantley Moody, who represents much of West Ashley, said whenever there are king tides or a full moon, the exit off the Savannah Highway that splits off to St. Andrews Boulevard is submerged in water. The roadbed is “torn up and chopped up” from how much time it’s been underwater.

“That road is chronically underwater,” Moody said. “That road is often closed by the city police department, and for good reason.”

Moody added whenever the police close the road, everyone is forced to go on Highway 17 then figure out how to get back on St. Andrews Boulevard. He considers it a choke point when the road is closed.

Owsiak said the county is looking to elevate the off-ramp, either by adding additional pavement layers or with a mini elevated bridge, to alleviate the flooding issues.

Glenn McConnell

The county plans on constructing an overpass for eastbound traffic on Glenn McConnell Parkway at the intersection with Magwood Drive. The project is expected to cost around $194 million.

Hayden O’Brien — Patrick O’Brien’s wife — takes Glenn McConnell toward I-526 for work and to take her daughter to school. She said it’s tricky just leaving her Carolina Bay neighborhood to get onto Glenn McConnell because she can’t turn right on red due to the heavy traffic. There also are times she can’t turn right when the light turns green because traffic is so backed up from Magwood Drive.

She added traffic has gotten worse since the county finished widening Glenn McConnell and added a light at Essex Farms Drive.

“When they established that light at Essex Farms Drive and Glenn McConnell, it would take me 30 minutes to get out of the neighborhood,” she said.

Hayden O’Brien said her biggest problem with the traffic is that it’s unpredictable, which makes planning the timing of her commute difficult.

Owsiak said the planned work is part of the state Department of Transportation’s I-526 Lowcountry Corridor Project. The DOT is working on a grade separated interchange at Glenn McConnell Parkway, Paul Cantrell Boulevard and Magwood Drive so people heading west don’t have to stop at that intersection. There are no current plans for eastbound traffic.

For eastbound traffic, Owsiak said the plan is to eventually add an additional overpass so people driving on Glenn McConnell and Paul Cantrell could be “flying over” Magwood Drive.