The inevitable takeaway from the county's list of potential projects, the annual allocations, and funding for other efforts is that they are woefully underfunded.  As shown in the graphic below and described later in this action alert, this underfunding is at least $2 billion.
 

Your input is critical to get the right funding allocations on the ballot in November to meet our road, public transportation and greenbelt needs.

There is a lot of information to digest, so for your convenience you might consider the following in your response in the county's comment form.  More details can be found in the sidebar.
 

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Note that what is listed below follows the order of the "boxes"  in the comment form.

"Mark Clark Expressway Extension":  Tell the county if you think this project should be included or not.

"South US-17 Corridor Improvements"  [adding lanes on US-17 from Hwy 162 to Dobbin Road and adding overpasses]:  This project must be the number three priority for the sales tax and the entire corridor must be upgraded, not a reduced length of it.

"Maybank Highway Improvements (Western Portion)" [aka Maybank between Main and River]:  This project must be the number two priority for the sales tax.  This project needs to have a planted center lane with controlled access.  Otherwise, it will become another Folly Road.  It's hard to redesign a corridor-long suicide lane once it's created.

"Maybank Highway Improvements (Eastern Portion)" [aka the greater Maybank-River intersection];  This project must be the number one priority for the sales tax.  This is probably the worst intersection in the county and improvements to it are long overdue.

"Charleston County Greenbelt Program":  The funding must remain at 10% of the total tax funds as it currently is for the 2016 sales tax.  Adequate Greenbelt funding is critical to preserve the character of the county for generations to come.  Land is only getting more expensive, especially in Charleston County.   Now is not the time to skimp on Greenbelt funding

"General Feedback":

Splitting into two referendums:  No one knows what the outcome of the referendum will be.  As a point of reference, the 2016 sales tax only passed by a 51% to 49% margin.

This uncertainty in the passage of the referendum is exasperated by grouping the Mark Clark Extension with all the other efforts.  This puts future funding for other mobility improvements, CARTA, and Greenbelt programs at greater risk.

A more responsible approach would be to bifurcate the tax into two, 0.2% for the Mark Clark Extension and 0.3% for everything else.  This bifurcation needs to be done for the good of the county.

Project Allocation:  With the exception of the Mark Clark Extension, the county has allocated $811M for all road projects in the county over the next 25 years.  But their list of projects totals $2.042B, a $1.23B shortfall!  With this allocation, about 60% of the potential projects will not be funded. 

This shortfall does not even include needed projects such as widening Main Road between River Road and Maybank Highway and adding wide shoulders on River Road between Main Road and Maybank Highway.

The $811M allocation is woefully inadequate and needs to be increased to at least $2B.  

Project Priorities:  If there is a project you know must be funded, tell the county.  Otherwise, it could be dropped from the list if they do not change the project allocation funding.

For example, the potential projects that are critical for the southern portion of the county are the Maybank Hwy and South US-17 Corridor projects.  These projects have a projected cost of $505 million, which is more than 60% of the total proposed allocated funds.  Projects like these need to remain on the list.

Greenbelt Funding:  The county keeps deceasing the percentage of funds available for Greenbelt programs.  In 2004, it was 17%.  In 2016, it was 10%  For 2024, 8% is proposed.

Adequate Greenbelt funding is critical to preserve the character of the county for generations to come.  Land is only getting more expensive, especially in Charleston County.  Now is not the time to skimp on Greenbelt funding. 

The Greenbelt funding needs to remain at 10% of the total revenue from the sales tax.

Project cost, schedule and priority:  To make an informed decision, residents need to know the priority of the projects, the schedule and the total cost (which includes financing)

For example, if the county runs out of money for projects as they did for the 2016 sales tax, which projects have the lowest priority and might be dropped?  Also, will the tax revenue be front-loaded for the Mark Clark Extension (526) to the detriment of the other projects and allocations?

The estimated completion date for each project is critical to help set the public's expectations for when we will see safety improvements and congestion relief.

Project cost, schedule and priority need to be included for each project called out in the referendum.

Annual allocation for intersection improvements: The proposed allocation for intersection improvements is $5M per year.  This is about what it costs to make significant improvements to a single intersection. 

For example, the county has said it will cost $6M to improve the River and Brownswood Roads intersection.  On Johns Island alone there are a half dozen intersections that are not part of projects that need major improvements. 

One major intersection improvement per year for the entire county is woefully inadequate.  The annual allocation for intersection improvements needs to be increased to at least $20M.

Annual allocation for bike/ped project improvements:  The proposed allocation for bike/ped projects improvements is $5M per year.  Given that the county estimates it will cost $142M to adding missing sidewalks/multi-use paths along Rivers Ave, this number is also woefully inadequate.

There are miles of sidewalks in downtown Charleston that each of us have probably tripped on at least once.  Here on Johns Island, there are still dirt paths along busy roads that students use to walk to St John's High School and adults use to walk to the The Food Lion grocery store. 

There needs to be adequate funds to address these issues.  The annual allocation for bike/ped project improvements needs to be increased to at least $10M.

Annual allocation for road resurfacing and pavement preservation:  The proposed allocation for road resurfacing and pavement preservation is $18M.  This is a welcome increase from $5M per year. 

However, the public has no way of evaluating if this an adequate number.  How many miles of road surfaces need to be improved?  At $18M per year, how many years will it take to get the roads repaired and then start a regular maintenance schedule?

This information needs to be provided so residents can make an informed decision.

South US-17 Corridor Improvements:  A huge amount of housing growth and its resulting traffic is coming to the southern part of the county.  This traffic will quickly overwhelm any congestion improvements achieved by the "Main and 17 flyover" if this project is not completed shortly after the flyover is completed.