Charleston County wants your input on their proposed plans for Bohicket Road, which they call Main Road Corridor Segment C Alternative 8 (ALT8). You can view their proposed plans here.
We appreciate the effort the County put into both this proposed plan and into their public meeting held on Thursday.
We discussed the plan with many of you at the public meeting, at a Rational Roads Zoom meeting on Thursday, and by email. You identified many issues with ALT8, including that it has very little resemblance to Alternative 6 (ALT6 is the Fix!) proposed by Rational Road.
Based upon these discussions, we advocate for the following:
A design must be developed for the Maybank-Main-Bohicket intersection that preserves most of the businesses and provides safe pedestrian access.
Between Maybank and Plow Ground, move the multi-path to the east side of Bohicket Road without increasing the right-of-way on that side of the road.
More information is needed to provide substantive comments on the section of Bohicket Road between Maybank and Plow Ground. This includes the number of trees proposed to be cut down in this section of road and more detail on how safely and effectively the side streets are to be accessed. The County must provide this information in a timely manner to allow the public to comment on it. Otherwise, there should be no changes to Bohicket Road between Maybank and Plow Ground.
Install an appropriately sized roundabout at the Bohicket-Plow Ground intersection.
Do not widen Bohicket Road south of Plow Ground.
Remove the multi-use path along Bohicket Road south of Plow Ground.
None of these changes will be made unless you express your views to the county at their website ... scroll to the bottom of their website and provide your comments in the "Contact Us" section. You have until June 14th to supply your comments, but take a few minutes and do it today.
Look over our recommendations (there's additional details below). Feel free to cut-and-paste those that you agree with into your response. However, if you have the time, it is always best to put your comments in your own words. Even if you submitted a form at the Tuesday meeting, we encourage you to also respond online, especially if you had not considered some of these recommendations.
A large number of responses from the public is going to be needed to help assure these changes are adopted by the County. Please reach out to your friends and neighbors to help in this effort.
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Details
We have developed a short presentation with graphics that will help you visualize the information below. You can view that presentation here.
Our recommendations are, from north to south:
- Maybank-Main-Bohicket Intersection: The plan shows too many businesses being destroyed at the Maybank-Main-Bohicket intersection. Also, safe pedestrian access to the KJ shopping center appears to be lacking. A design must be developed for the Maybank-Main-Bohicket intersection that preserves most of the businesses and provides safe pedestrian access.
- Multi-Use Path on Bohicket Road between Maybank and Plow Ground: On this stretch of Bohicket Road there are hundreds of homes and two schools located on the east side of the road. Yet the multi-use path is on the west side where there are only a handful of homes and open fields, several of which have conservation easements on them. Between Maybank and Plow Ground, move the multi-path to the east side of Bohicket Road without increasing the right-of-way on that side of the road.
- Bohicket Road between Maybank and Plow Ground: More information is needed to provide substantive comments on the section of Bohicket Road between Maybank and Plow Ground. The information that must be provided includes the number of trees to be removed as well as details on safe and effective access to Haut Gap Middle School, Winnsboro Road, Berryhill Road, and the new Angel Oak Park. The County must provide this information in a timely manner to allow the public to comment on it. Otherwise, there should be no changes to Bohicket Road between Maybank and Plow Ground.
- Bohicket-Plow Ground Intersection: This intersection is over engineered for current and future traffic projections. For example, two dedicated left-turn lanes from southbound Bohicket Road to Plow Ground is overkill based upon the rural zoning. Instead, install an appropriately sized roundabout at the Bohicket-Plow Ground intersection.
- Bohicket Road Widening South of Plow Ground: Traffic congestion on the long stretches of the rural portion of Bohicket Road only occurs due to the spillover from congestion on the urban portion of the road (north of Plow Ground). This urban congestion is due to the impact of traffic signals and cross-traffic in that area. Widening Bohicket Road where it is not needed unnecessarily and adversely impacts property owners, the number of trees to be cut down, and the environment. Don’t widen Bohicket Road south of Plow Ground.
- Muti-Use Path along Bohicket Road South of Plow Ground: Rational Roads is an advocate of multi-use paths. However, along the rural portion of Bohicket Road south of Plow Ground, the impact on the local community (about 130 properties) does not outweigh the benefit of the path. The multi-use path is more appropriate for the urban portion of Bohicket Road. Remove the multi-use path along Bohicket Road south of Plow Ground.
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About Rational Roads for Johns Island
Since our founding in November 2020, Rational Roads for Johns Island has advocated for much-needed transportation improvements that are sensitive to both our community and our environment. We have also advocated that improvements in safety must be a principal objective rather than to simply move vehicles through our community. Finally, we have advocated for transportation improvements that are innovative and cost effective.
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