Pedestrian pathway added to Main Road Project, roadway construction nears
by Matt Poust | Contributing Writer
As preliminary clearing and grubbing work begins throughout the Sector A section of the Main Road Corridor Project, a recent vote by the Charleston City Council looks to cut a new pedestrian path across the Stono River into construction plans.
The decision, voted into action by city council on Thursday, April 8, will look to expand the Limehouse Bridge to include a shared-use path as part of Main Road project, which aims to relieve the evolving traffic burdens that West Ashley and Johns Island residents bear through a mix of decongestion, increased capacity, and enhanced safety measures.
This expansion acts as a healthy compromise for the area’s on-foot and two-wheeled commuters after initial plans for a stand-alone pedestrian bridge were cut in early fall 2024. The expansion design will consist of an 8-to-10-foot multi-use path, a crash wall on the vehicular-traffic side, and an outer wall made of aluminum safety fencing similar to the one found on the Ravenel Bridge.
While a timeline for this bridge expansion within the anticipated four-year lifespan of the Main Road Corridor Project—now estimated at $364 million with its inclusion— has yet to be given, County Project Manager Herbert Nimz said that its completion will bring much-needed commuter connectivity to the area.
“Obviously, the primary goal of the project is to reduce traffic and congestion at Main Road and [Highway] 17, but another secondary component of the purpose and need scope of this project was to increase connectivity for bikes and pedestrians throughout,” Nimz explained. “We’re really trying to improve that network and make Charleston metro and greater Charleston a place that can be biked and run or walked more safely.”
The new Limehouse path will effectively allow pedestrians and cyclists a plausible route from Johns Island to the downtown Peninsula by stringing together connections to the West Ashley Greenway—which will be expanded to Bees Ferry throughout the Main Road project—Glenn McConnell Parkway, Maybank bikeway, and the Ashley River Crossing.
As plans for this new bridge expansion unfold, the county Main Road project team is expeditiously working through design plans and utility coordination, with utility relocation work along the Segment A region expected to ramp up mid-summer 2025, according to Nimz.
In full, Segment A of the project runs from Bees Ferry Road to the intersection of Chisolm and River roads and will bring about a slate of improvements intended to reduce traffic, including the construction of flyovers and an interchange at Main Road and U.S. Highway 17, a roundabout at the intersections of Main, Chisolm Road, and River Roads and a widening of Main Road throughout the entirety of the section. Enhanced drainage and other roadway improvements will also be added in Segment A to lessen the impacts of significant storms.
As roadway construction on the project nears, both support and opposition continue to be echoed by members of the local community. While Nimz believes that those who are in favor of the project are generally less outspoken, he stated that a load of the frustration coming from those who are against it stems from the lengthy timeline of the project.
“This is a four-year project, we knew that going into this, that was part of the proclamation process,” Nimz said. “We wish it was faster than that but that’s just the nature of construction like this.”
Nimz also reiterated the priority that the county is placing on maintaining adequate access to Johns Island routes for daily travel and potential emergency evacuations throughout the duration of the project.
Updates on Segment A progress will be given at quarterly city council meetings throughout the entirety of its construction and can also be found on www.mainroadcorridor.com.
The post Connectivity and Compromise appeared first on West Of.