I-526 foes to talk about alternatives

Workshops to explore solutions besides extending expressway

The Concerned Citizens of the Sea Islands and the Coastal Conservation League, two local groups against the proposed Mark Clark Expressway extension, are hosting open design workshops this week where the public can help develop alternatives to the $420 million project.

Traffic projections have shown that some roads in West Ashley and on Johns Island would benefit from the project, but opponents have questioned whether those benefits are substantial enough to warrant paying that much money.

Several local roads are in desperate need of repair, they say, arguing that the proposed new beltway wouldn't necessarily solve all traffic problems and that it would put development pressure on rural Johns Island.

The State Infrastructure Bank has already awarded Charleston County $99 million toward the project, and the road has received initial approval from Charleston County Council.

But Lisa Jones-Turansky of the Coastal Conservation League said no feasible alternatives were presented when the Mark Clark was approved by the bank board last year and that the design charrette should help pinpoint some practical options.

"We hope they'll reconsider the decision that they made," Jones-Turansky said. More than 350 people have signed an online petition opposing the Mark Clark.

For the charrette, the league and the Concerned Citizens group teamed up with transportation engineers from Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin, an Orlando, Fla.-based company.

They ultimately hope to come up with comparable projects that would still solve transportation woes but would have the least environmental impact and would cost as much or less than the proposed Mark Clark extension, which would connect Interstate 526 with Johns Island and then cross over to join the James Island Connector at Folly Road. The project is undergoing preliminary environmental impact studies.

While opponents push for alternatives to the pricey extension, an official with the state agency providing the funding says it's not that easy to swap out the money for smaller county road projects.

State Infrastructure Bank Board member Richard Tapp Jr. said in a statement that they agreed to give the county the $420 million only after carefully reviewing a lengthy submission and analyzing the costs and benefits involved. The parties have since signed contracts as to how those funds would be used, he added.

In June, County Council approved two contracts, one with the Infrastructure Bank and the state Department of Transportation and the other with just the Transportation Department, to accept $420 million to complete the expressway. The county will in turn spend $117 million from half-cent sales tax proceeds to improve other state roads.

"Contrary to an apparent misperception," Tapp said, "the Infrastructure Bank's funding commitment to the Mark Clark Expressway cannot merely be diverted or reprogrammed for other roads in Charleston. Instead, if for any reason that funding is not used on the Mark Clark Expressway, that funding would then be spent on roads in congested areas in other parts of the state."

Nevertheless, Jones-Turansky said their time won't be wasted with the design workshops. Hopefully, county and state officials will change their minds, she said, after they see that there are better ways to increase connectivity and alleviate traffic, but still minimally impact the environment.

"If building the Mark Clark is truly about solving the traffic problems, then Charleston County and the Infrastructure Bank should choose to build and fund the most cost-effective and the least-damaging solution," she said.