Charleston backs wider McConnell Parkway

Charleston officials often have criticized the widening of roads as a flawed approach to traffic management, but in the case of the Glenn McConnell Parkway, the city is prepared to make a $9 million exception.

In a project that's expected to be laid out at public meetings in June or July, Charleston is backing a plan to widen a section of the parkway in West Ashley to three travel lanes in each direction, up from the current two.

Add the turn lanes at intersections and highway on-ramps, and the expansion means the parkway would become as many as nine lanes wide in places.

The changes are aimed at improving the parkway's intersection with Magwood Road, and the Interstate 526 interchange, where traffic backups are common during rush hour.

"This is the area that produces the real commuter congestion up there," Mayor Joe Riley said.

The parkway is a state road, but the money for the improvements would come from Charleston County's half-cent sales tax.

"In the Charleston area, the population is just growing faster than the infrastructure to support it," said Tony Fallaw, program manager of the state Department of Transportation.

"We're working to relieve congestion, but we can't do every project we would like," he said.

The changes would make Glenn McConnell Parkway one of the widest roads in the city, comparable to the widest sections of Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant.

Charleston officials have been critical of other road-widening plans, such as the proposal to expand Maybank Highway on Johns Island from two lanes to five, arguing that a network of connected two-lane streets is a more pleasant and efficient way to move traffic.

The city has encouraged such street networks when developments are built, and in West Ashley, streets in the Carolina Bay development will form a new connection between Glenn McConnell Parkway and Savannah Highway.

City Department of Transportation Director Hernan Pena said adding lanes to the parkway is the only way to improve the Magwood Road intersection and I-526 interchange.

Dan Moses of LPA, the company managing Charleston County's RoadWise program, said what the parkway really needs is a rebuilt highway interchange and improvements to most major connecting roads, but that could cost $100 million to $120 million.

That was the long-term solution identified in an SCDOT study, which Fallaw described as "more of a Cadillac design" than the current, short-term plan.

"Glenn McConnell could use that now, to be honest, but it's a lot of money," Moses said. "I know it's probably one of the most heavy- capacity interchanges in the area, and it's been on everyone's radar."

The estimated $9 million in short-term improvements could be expanded upon in the future, so the money spent on that work would not be wasted, Moses said.

"We desperately need it," said Charleston Councilwoman Deb Morinelli, who represents parts of West Ashley. "It's really bad.

"They put all these developments up and down Highway 61 years ago, and didn't think about transportation, and as a result everybody is suffering."

Pena said that if all goes according to plan, construction could begin late in 2009.