Last week we asked you to fill out our online survey concerning River Road from Main Road to Maybank Highway. Over 250 of you responded! Thanks for taking the time to supply your thoughts. We will share them with the County.
The full results of the survey can be found here. We encourage you to read it. Please give us your feedback at RationalRoads@gmail.com.
The Survey
In 2023 Charleston County plans to resurface the 5 miles of River Road from Main to Maybank. As part of this effort, there are no plans for other road improvements, such as widening of shoulders or improvements to intersections.
This prompted Rational Roads to send out a survey to our subscribers asking them what needs to be done. We wanted to hear from a broad cross-section of residents who regularly travel upper River Road.
The survey was open from Feb 4th to Feb 10th. There were 252 responses. Over 80% were from Johns Island.
Summary Survey
The key takeaways were:
The shoulders were clearly the biggest issue, including that they were not wide enough.
Given limited funds, over 73% said they are willing to forego resurfacing the section of River Road from Main Road to Brownswood Road to obtain both shoulder and road surface improvements from Brownswood Road to Maybank Hwy.
Over 72% said shoulders should be selectively (rather than continuously) widened to eliminate the impact on live oaks and other grand trees.
Over 80% said improvements need to be made at the intersections at Brownwood Road and Murraywood Road.
67% said improving traffic signal timing and adding signage would improve traffic flow at the Maybank Hwy and River Road intersection.
62% are willing to cut down a few trees … if they are replaced … to add a second lane to Maybank Hwy going off-island by the Stono Bridge.
A Holistic Approach: Tying in Land Use
Solving our transportation issues is intrinsically tied to land use. Unfortunately these are often seen as two separate siloed topics. Indeed, both in the City and the County transportation planning and land use planning are two totally separate departments. And public transportation (CARTA) is yet a third leg of planning that impacts transportation and land use.
The Johns Island Advocate recently ran a survey where one of the takeaways was that we must have a holistic (i.e. not siloed) approach to land planning and transportation.
If we want residents to make difficult choices about our transportation system then we must show them this link to land planning. That means in concurrence with recommendations of this survey we must also implement the following items as identified in the Advocate survey.
Strengthen the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) through an interjurisdictional agreement.
Strengthen the zoning outside the UGB.
Implement zoning ordinances that stress resilience and livability. This includes far greater protection for individual trees and preserving stands of trees.
Require transportation solutions that reduce congestion and improve safety while also protecting our environment and culture.
Survey Recommendations
Short-Term (1 to 2 yrs):
Rather than resurface all of upper River Road use the funds to improve the road surface AND expand the shoulders from Brownswood to Maybank.
Identify additional funds, if needed, to improve the Brownswood, Murraywood, and Maybank intersections.
Sign an interjurisdictional agreement that strengthens the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB).
Strengthen the zoning outside the UGB.
Implement zoning ordinances that stress resilience and livability. This includes far greater protection for individual trees and preserving stands of trees.
Mid-Term (3 to 4 yrs):
Build the southern pitchfork.
Add a second lane on Maybank going off-island (between River Road and the Stono Bridge) but only if the short-term land planning recommendations above are implemented.
