Is there an I-526 silent majority?

JAMES ISLAND -- A silent majority supports completing Interstate 526 over James and Johns islands, but a vocal minority opposed to the project has hijacked the public hearing process, a James Island councilman said Wednesday.

About 50 protesters dominated a council meeting Tuesday night when a resolution concerning I-526 was on the table.

"We're only hearing from the vocal minority. I'm hearing from a lot of people who want this (highway)," Councilman Carter McMillan said.

The town of James Island has 19,000 residents, he noted.

McMillan said he will go door-to-door today through Sunday asking island residents their opinion on completing I-526.

"I want to go out there and find out," he said.

If built as planned by the S.C. Department of Transportation, the completion of I-526 would be seven miles of four-lane road across the islands from Savannah Highway to Folly Road.

Town Council on Tuesday rejected a resolution offered by Mayor Bill Woolsey that in part reflected McMillan's idea of surveying more people about their opinion of completing the highway.

"The town supports a public process to properly and thoroughly gauge public sentiment regarding alternatives for the Mark Clark Expressway project," it said.

McMillan seconded Woolsey's motion. Leonard Blank, Robin Welch and Karen Wilder-Smalls voted no. The opposition saw the resolution as an abandonment of the previous Town Council's resolution rejecting the I-526 completion.

Before the vote, mostly opponents spoke for two hours. Johns Island resident Marjorie Woodruff, an I-526 opponent, said the project's supporters should realize that its future is being decided in a democracy.

"If you are silent, you have no vote," Woodruff said.

Amy Fabri of James Island said the opposition represents the feelings of most people.

"This is a vocal, passionate majority of James and Johns islands residents who say no to this project," she said.

People who support the road should speak up, Woolsey said.

"I do think that people who want 526 completed across the James Island town limits need to directly contact members of the James Island Town Council," he said in an e-mail.

Charleston County Council considered a scientific poll to see if county residents favor finishing I-526. Council Chairman Teddie Pryor suggested that a $22,000 poll of 1,000 county residents would help council members decide what to do next.

Council has yet to vote on the idea. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley has said that a "silent majority" supports completing I-526. "When people really study it, they see the advantage of it," he said Wednesday.

The opposition outnumbered supporters at state-sponsored public hearings on the highway in the fall. Of 1,657 who spoke, 1,033 were against the extension.

"It's not a large amount of people when you are talking about the entire Lowcountry," McMillan said.

County Council voted this spring not to build the $489 million project, but members backtracked on that decision last month after the S.C. Transportation Infrastructure Bank board declared the county in default and ordered it to repay $11.6 million.

That May 17 decision satisfied the bank, which sent the county a letter recently saying it was no longer in default. However, that still leaves the question of what to do next regarding the project.

Supporters cite better traffic flow, safety and hurricane evacuation. Opponents worry about environmental damage and irreparable harm to the character of the islands. Some opponents fear losing their homes or livelihoods because of the highway.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711.