The Northern Pitchfork, which will run behind the Food Lion from upper River Road to Maybank Highway at Fenwick Hall Allee, is expected to be completed by the end of this year or early next year. If you regularly use this portion of Maybank Highway you may find the following information about this road and its environs useful.
Intersection with River Road: The intersection with River Road will not have a traffic signal. Instead, a left turn lane on River Road will be added to access the Pitchfork and there will be a stop sign on the Pitchfork to get onto River Road. Traffic on the Pitchfork at this stop sign will be able to turn left or right onto River Road.
Commentary: It will be nearly impossible for drivers to make a left turn onto River Road at this intersection, especially in the morning when traffic backs up on River Road way past this point. Recommend that right turns only be considered.
Intersection with Fenwick Hall Allee: There will be a roundabout at this intersection. No grand trees will be removed to install the roundabout. The preserved grand trees will be located in the roundabout area and the other medians.
Commentary: We are encouraged to see a roundabout as part of the design and that the grand trees will be saved.
Intersection with Maybank Highway: There will be traffic signals at the intersection of Fenwick Hall Allee and Maybank Highway. Temporary signals are currently being installed.
Commentary: This should significantly improve the safety of this dangerous intersection. Too many people have died here as a result of t-bone collisions.
Removal of a Grand Tree on River Road: As shown below, a large grand tree was cut down to accommodate the Pitchfork. The City tried for years to save the tree but SCDOT would not allow the length of the left turn lane and its taper to be reduced to preserve the tree.
This tree removal did not have to go before the City Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) because the tree was located on state land, i.e. it was within the right-of-way of a state road. No public input was sought for the tree removal.
Commentary: The ability of SCDOT to cut down trees without public oversight is troubling. This will be a concern for the Main Road Segment C (aka Bohicket Road) project where our iconic tree canopy could be in peril if the public does not have a say.
Apartments Under Construction: The 240 unit Stono Oak apartments will access the Northern Pitchfork as shown in the diagram below. They will not have direct access to Maybank Highway.
Commentary: Other housing projects are in the works along the Northern Pitchfork. These will bring even more traffic to this area. It can be anticipated that the traffic studies for each project will conclude that there will be no impact on traffic. Yet we all know elsewise.
Construction south of Maybank Highway: Phase 1 of the Indigo Grove development is underway across Maybank Highway from where the apartments are being built. Phase 1 consists of 72 lots of which 43 are for townhomes and 29 are for single family houses.
As shown below, the entrance to this development will be on Maybank Highway, west of Fenwick Hall Allee. The existing left turn lane for Fenwick Hall Allee will be extended (towards River Road) to accomodate left turns into Indigo Grove. Both left and right turns onto Maybank Highway will be permitted from this development.
Commentary: Access to this development on Maybank Highway has the potential to be another deadly intersection similar to Fenwick Hall Allee. One has to wonder if the traffic study even considered this. This is another reason to complete the Southern Pitchfork. This Pitchfork would service this development and allow the access road on Maybank Highway to be right turn only.
While we are talking about pitchforks ... The Southern Pitchfork: The Southern Pitchfork is proposed to run between lower River Road and Maybank Highway (i.e. behind the "Harris Teeter coming soon" sign). The landowner has committed to donate the land to the City for this effort as part of the 2019 zoning approvals for Indigo Grove. Currently the County is not inclined to implement this project. The City wants the project to be completed but they don't currently have the funds. The City may be able to obtain the funds with a Municipal Improvement District (MID) or its Act 236 replacement.
The County has given various reasons why they do not want to implement this project. These included that it would interfere with the drainage of the proposed Mark Clark Expressway, that it would impact too many wetlands, that it would impact too many grand trees, and that it wouldn't align with the Northern Pitchfork. The landowner has a different view on these issues.
The reason the two pitchforks were not designed to align on Maybank Highway is that doing so would have taken out some of the largest grand trees in the corridor. It was not envisioned that there would be a full-up traffic signal at the Maybank/Southern Pitchfork intersection. Instead there would be a left turn signal that would not impede the traffic coming on-island. Off-island bound traffic would be stopped only when this left turn signal was active.
Commentary: We encourage the County, City, and landowner to sit down and discuss innovative solutions for the Southern Pitchfork to get it back on track.
As always, there is a lot going and we will attempt to keep you informed. If you have any questions or additional information, don't hesitate to contact us at RationalRoads@gmail.com
