Mattress storein Johns Island, SC

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – Some Johns Island neighbors like the new traffic light, and some say it’s causing traffic issues on the island, but city officials say they’re working to make sure this new light doesn’t become a problem for drivers moving forward.

The new traffic light at the intersection of Maybank Highway and Fenwick Hall Allee is causing quite a controversy amongst Johns Island neighbors. Some are appreciative of the addition.

“This light I feel like it does help a lot,” Johns Island resident Liz Jannetta said, “especially for this community.”

Some believe it’s the cause of increased commute times across the island.

“Little bit of a negative coming back because it starts to bottleneck,” Johns Island resident Marek Pawulski said. “People coming onto Johns Island and leaving Johns Island.”

But Charleston City officials say because the new light has only been in operation for a week, no one can definitely say it’s the reason for the congestion.

“I would say it’s speculation,” Robert Somerville, director of traffic and transportation for the City of Charleston, said. “We really need to get some data collected.”

Somerville says Charleston County has already begun the process of gathering that data.

“They have counters placed on Maybank so we can look at the volumes,” he said, “and compare it to pre-installation of the signal to the volumes that we’re seeing now.”

With more than 80 accidents at the intersection, including multiple fatalities, neighbors in the Fenwick Plantation subdivision would like others to see why this new light is needed.

“I have three teenage kids,” Jannetta said, “two who both drive now and putting them, before this light came, having them make lefts out of this neighborhood it was gut-wrenching. I don’t even know what else to say.”

And though some people see the new light as a main cause for backups on the island, they understand it was installed for everyone’s safety.

“If this light came in for the purpose to prevent accidents and save lives then I think it’s a good thing,” Pawulski said. “But like you said, I think they need to set up the timing a little bit better so it doesn’t bottle up towards Headquarters or way past River Road.”

Charleston City officials say they will continue working on the timing of the light, and they’re urging all drivers to be patient during that process.

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCIV) — The daily commute has been longer for some on Johns Island lately thanks to the addition of a new traffic light.

But for others, their commute is now much safer.

The daily commute has been longer for some on Johns Island lately thanks to the addition of a new traffic light. (WCIV)

You can’t miss the bright yellow sign indicating a new traffic light as you approach the intersection of Maybank Highway and Fenwick Hall Allee.

Chances are you also won’t miss the traffic.

“What used to take 10 minutes might take 30 minutes right now just because they are not used to what’s going on with the traffic,” said Blake Van Oordt, Johns Island resident.

For Wayne Morris, who lives near that intersection, it’s been a life saver.

Read More: Developers share plan to address traffic with Union Pier redevelopment

“They say it slows down traffic, but I ask them if you had to put your life, your wife’s life or husband’s life or your kids life in danger every time you leave your home, would you still be against the stop light and very seldom I get an answer that no well that makes sense,” Morris said.

The intersection was getting dangerous. The City of Charleston reported 88 accidents- including one fatality- at that spot during the last five years, so a temporary light was installed early.

“For the permanent signal, we’re about a year out before that will be installed,” said Robert Somerville, Director of City of Charleston Traffic and Transportation.

Read More: SCDOT's updated plan for I-526 corridor

Charleston County officials said the pitchfork project is slated to be complete by the end of 2023.

“A connection from Maybank with Fenwick Hall Allee that will go over and connect with River Road, so that is moving forward with the construction of the road as well as the development of some housing over there at this time,” said Somerville.

In the meantime, Somerville asks for patience.

“We are working with the county as well as the DOT to try to resolve this problem. The county has placed counters out there now, they got data prior to the signal being installed, so they are going to cross-reference with this new data.” Said Somerville.

Read More: SCDOT seeking feedback on Long Point Road Interchange project

They are also studying three different intersections on Maybank- the first at River Road, then at Fenwick Hall Allee, and the third at Headquarters Plantation.

“It's a capacity issue ... there is a lot of traffic. Of course we got dual left turns that come off of River on to Maybank and then you got the merge, so that makes it a little difficult but we are going to try to see what we can do to figure it out,” said Somerville.

The goal is to time it out just right and keep the traffic flow as smooth as possible. New data is expected next week– hopefully improving drive times sooner than later.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – A new traffic light at the intersection of Maybank Highway and Fenwick Hall Allee has caused quite a stir amongst neighbors on Johns Island.

Some people like the addition of the light, but some wish it was never put here in the first place.

“That stop light is going to save lives,” said Johns Island resident Wayne Morris, while acknowledging that “it might be an inconvenience for some folks.”

Morris has lived in the Twelve Oaks Community on Fenwick Hall Allee for the last two years. He says the new light is needed because, without it, it’s nearly impossible, and extremely dangerous, to turn onto Maybank Highway.

“I don’t know whether people know this- there’s been five deaths out there, and numerous accidents, said Morris.

Other residents living in the Twelve Oaks Community like the new traffic light as well.

“Before I would just probably take a right,” Ryan Tomlinson said. “Go up River and go around up Savannah Highway rather than try to take a left out of here. So, it’s a lot better now.”

However, many neighbors who don’t live in the Fenwick Plantation subdivision have a different opinion.

Andrew Trego, who grew up on Johns Island, said the light is “causing a lot of mayhem on the road.” He went on to say, “Johns Island is just not what it used to be.”

Trego says the new light, along with several new developments popping up, is the reason for much of the congestion across the island.

“It’s not helpful for the roads around here,” Trego said. “It’s not helpful for our culture. This is a quaint community; now it’s not, and we just don’t like it.”

Trego says he would like to see some changes to alleviate the congestion made soon.

“The city really needs to do something about it,” he said. “We as a community need to stand up and tell the city what we think and how we feel.”

Now, neighbors who support the new traffic light are asking those who are against it to take into account how they feel as well.

“How would you like one of your children or one of your loved ones to be one of those five?” Morris said. “And is it not worth the safety of your family, yourself to put up with an inconvenience of a small stop light?”

The new traffic light on Maybank Highway started operating at the beginning of April.

The marshy edges of the Charleston peninsula and its surrounding islands were long viewed as opportune sites to dump debris and add developable land mass to a city surrounded by water.

But that attitude has shifted in recent decades as concerns over sea-level rise and loss of native plants and animals take focus. That’s why a proposal to build a bridge over a largely untouched marsh on Johns Island caught nearby residents off guard.

“It was astounding to me,” said John Zlogar, chairman of the Johns Island Task Force. The group was established a decade ago to bring together residents and local officials to address Johns Island-specific issues.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control will review an application from property owner Michael Blanchard to build a bridge connecting his piece of land on a narrow island in Pennys Creek, a tributary of the Stono River, to the mainland of Johns Island. The property is zoned to allow up to 40 single-family homes, but Blanchard has not submitted any formal plans to the city yet. The lot has been in his family since the 1940s but until now, no one has had the financial means to both develop it and build a bridge to it, he said.

“We’d like to put some houses on it,” he said. “Heck, I would live out there if I could.”

Building a bridge would connect his 60-acre property to an existing neighborhood made up of two roads and about 200 townhomes off of River Road. An extension of one of those roads, Fenwick Planation Road, would be required for drivers to access the bridge. And Blanchard already has an easement there because his family previously owned the land across Pennys Creek as well.

But using that easement would result in what resident Candice Losego calls, “an eyesore.”

“It would go right against my backyard,” she said.

A view that currently gives way to marsh grass, seabirds and the occasional herd of deer, would be obstructed by a 33-foot-wide bridge the length of 1½ football fields.

Losego and other residents of the neighborhood have been rallying supporters to call for DHEC to host a public hearing on the proposal.

Because DHEC has received over 20 requests for a hearing, officials said they will host one on Johns Island but have not set a date and time yet. At the hearing, residents will have an opportunity to share comments about the proposal before DHEC reviews the application.

Potential alternatives

As of now, Blanchard’s lot is inaccessible.

The nearest road to Blanchard’s property on the island, Rushland Landing Road, runs perpendicular to it and leads to a bridge connecting to Johns Island. Between Blanchard’s land and Rushland Landing Road is a piece of property owned by S.C. Department of Transportation that stretches the width of the island, isolating Blanchard’s lot.

Residents and environmental advocates would prefer Blanchard get an easement from the S.C. Department of Transportation to access Rushland Landing Road instead of building another bridge.

“The applicant does not appear to have detailed why this is an infeasible route for access,” a comment submitted to DHEC by the Coastal Conservation League states.

DOT bought the property adjacent to Blanchard’s in 2019 in anticipation of the department’s plan to extend Interstate 526 and link West Ashley, Johns Island and James Island. As a part of the larger project, the department plans to build a connector through its property on the small island in Pennys Creek.

Charleston Chief Resiliency Officer Dale Morris said that if the project gets the go-ahead, it would make more sense for Blanchard to try to tie into the proposed connector that would run though the island and use it as the main access point to his property rather than attempt to build his own bridge.

“The Dutch Dialogues would say, ‘have as little of a touch on the marsh there as you can,’” Morris said, referring to a yearlong flood-management research program the city underwent in 2019. “Using the I-526 opportunity to access that land would be better than building that bridge.”

But the full project has stalled somewhat due to eye-popping cost estimates that most recently landed at $2.2 billion. While the agency works to fill funding gaps, any property DOT bought in preparation for the effort sits in limbo.

Blanchard said if he had his way, he wouldn’t have to build a bridge at all.

“If we can get access to Rushland Landing Road, we would give up on the bridge in a heartbeat,” he said.

A statement from DOT said granting access to the property is “not possible,” due to the myriad government agencies involved in the I-526 project. The agency is also not obligated to grant access to Blanchard because it had been landlocked long before DOT bought the property, the statement read.

Whether the bridge plans materialize or not, Blanchard will likely face fresh opposition should he choose to develop his property.

A shifting tide

New developments in sensitive areas such as Pennys Creek are in murky territory when it comes to city regulations.

What is currently legal may not be legal a few years from now.

That’s because Charleston officials are currently crafting a Comprehensive Water Plan and a new zoning code for the entire city. When those documents are complete, developers will have a new set of standards to follow. And those could restrict how much building happens in low-lying areas, especially along a marsh.

“We have to turn those concepts and goals into a zoning ordinance and language,” Morris said. “Once we do that we will have more control over how and where development can occur.”

But without new zoning laws in place, the city is facing an uphill battle managing the drainage needs of both old and new neighborhoods.

Upstream from Pennys Creek, Charleston is pursuing a $12 million drainage project around the Barberry Woods Development. The city plans to restore 25-acres of wetlands around the flood-prone neighborhood for use as a public park and natural drainage tool. The open space will help absorb stormwater that eventually runs into Pennys Creek and then the Stono River. The last thing the city needs, Morris said, is another bridge disrupting that process.

The South Carolina Office of Resilience has announced they will be giving several million dollars to the City of Charleston to improve drainage on Johns Island.

Published: Mon Mar 20 2023

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The South Carolina Office of Resilience has announced they will be giving several million dollars to the City of Charleston to improve drainage issues affecting around 500 acres of Johns Island.

Stormwater Management Director Matthew Fountain said Monday the city is trying to build a naturalized area and a new stream near the homes of the Barberry Woods neighborhood off Maybank Highway to reduce flooding.

“Getting this grant in helps close the funding gap,” Fountain said. “We’ve seen some huge cost increases over the last three to four years as everybody knows in construction, especially.”

Fountain said the $4.6 million grant from the state will cover about half of the project’s $10 million price tag. He added the city has invested a couple million dollars alone buying up nearby vacant properties.

Neighbors also shared videos of how extreme the flooding was during Hurricane Ian in Barberry Woods, with one neighbor who could be seen taking his children on a kayak ride along the street.

Fountain said the state’s grant money will help cover some of the construction costs, including tree clearing, digging out soil and reshaping the land. The project also calls for a 20-to-25-acre area complete with walking trails.

“The water can basically act like in a natural wetland system over the top of the stream banks and hold in the wetland areas instead of being in people’s roads and streets,” Fountain said.

A few years ago, the city, in conjunction with the Dutch embassy, brought over experts from the Netherlands, Europe and across the country to recommend ways to address flooding. Fountain said this project was one of those recommendations.

“How do you restore the ability of the land to handle the water like it used before you basically did all this development in the area,” Fountain said. “This project is directly looking at how do we take land that could be developed into something – commercial or homes – and basically convert it back into wetlands and streams like it would have been hundreds of years ago potentially to help manage the flooding challenges that are currently affecting the developed properties around it.”

Neighbors like Brian Mack said they are glad a potential solution is underway.

“We get a lot of the drainage from neighborhoods up the road, and it tends to pool down here in the middle of the road and come out toward our house and the back of the neighborhood,” Mack said.

Mack said his neighbors have to prepare in case of heavy rain, so they’re not stuck.

“Some cars have to park in the front and either walk barefoot through or put galoshes on just to get to their homes,” Mack said.

Fountain said he expects to receive these state funds in the next month or so, and they’re on track to start construction in about a year to a year and a half.

“It’ll take a little bit of time, but upon completion of the project, one of the advantages of something like this is you’ll see immediate improvements,” Fountain said.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.