Boeing plant question: Who will pay for roads?

The prospect of thousands of jobs coming to the new Boeing Co. jet assembly plant is accelerating the need to make major road improvements to ease the growing traffic congestion around Charleston International Airport.

The estimated price is $155 million.

The problem is that no one is sure how to pay for it yet.

Already, cars and trucks crawl along Ashley Phosphate Road, Dorchester Road and South Aviation Avenue during peak travel times, as shown by a series of red and yellow dots plotted out on a new traffic study that consultants presented to a Charleston County Council committee Thursday.

"This is what we're trying to solve," Rhett Reidenbach, of the engineering firm Davis & Floyd, told the committee, noting that the dots signified severe congestion and road failure.

The study detailed North Charleston's traffic problems, which will be exacerbated once Boeing's 787 Dreamliner jet assembly facility becomes fully operational in 2013.

Within a few years, more than 6,200 workers are expected to be reporting to the aerospace giant's campus at Charleston International and sharing the roads in that area with other commuters.

The study showed parts of Dorchester Road, International Boulevard and Michaux Parkway failing completely by 2020.

"In no way are we blaming Boeing for this. We already have a problem," said Councilman Elliott Summey, chairman of the Economic Development Committee. "Boeing is going to intensify the problem, and we need to get ahead of the curve."

Council members agreed to move forward on the permitting and construction of a series of road fixes recommended by the study, which include:

--Making South Aviation Avenue a four-lane road and extending it to Ashley Phosphate Road.

--Building a new pass-through road to Dorchester Road that would replace Michaux Parkway. It would start at the interchange of Interstate 526 and West Montague Avenue and extend to Dorchester Road, near the existing Michaux intersection. Drivers still would be able to use International Boulevard to get to the airport, but they would not be allowed to turn left onto Michaux when coming from I-526. Also, vehicles traveling Michaux from Dorchester Road would not be able to take a right on International Boulevard toward I-526.

--Completing a series of small fixes at seven key intersections in North Charleston that mostly involve simple turn-lane retooling and signal timing.

The recommendations didn't offer a magic bullet for the area's traffic problem. Even with the improvements, the 2020 map projected severe backups along Ashley Phosphate.

And the improvements come with an estimated $155 million price tag. County officials acknowledged that they didn't know how they would pay for the road improvements.

"Before we go after the money, we need to know what we're after," Summey said of the new study.

The proposed improvements were not one of the pre- approved traffic projects designated to receive Roadwise funds, though some money could come from the multimillion dollar state incentive package offered to Boeing executives, said economic development director Steve Dykes.

The recommendations released Thursday came from a $150,000 state-funded study that was included in Boeing's incentive deal.

Separately, the aerospace giant has filed for permits to shift a portion of South Aviation Avenue closer to Interstate 526 to accommodate part of its new 787 assembly plant.

Plans also call for an additional entrance to Boeing's site where Michaux Parkway meets International Boulevard.

That would extend Michaux into the company's manufacturing campus.