Meeting the North Bridge need

Pedestrians and cyclists, now banned from the North Bridge, would gain safe access under a city of Charleston proposal to build a walkway across the Ashley River span. The state Department of Transportation should help the city expedite the project.

The proposal, unveiled at a recent town hall meeting, would include improved bike and pedestrian access for the Northbridge neighborhood. Better public access to the Ashley River, by the southern terminus of the bridge, also is planned.

There's no money yet for the project, but grants are being sought from a variety of sources, including the National Park Service.

The state DOT, which banned pedestrians and cyclists from the bridge for safety reasons, should be first in line with a check. The department's assistance would acknowledge the importance of a broader use for urban bridges. The popularity of the walkway on the Arthur Ravenel Bridge among pedestrians and cyclists underscores the value of better access.

The DOT installed median barriers along the North Bridge's center line to improve safety conditions for motorists. Pedestrians and cyclists had long used the slightly raised three-foot median to cross the bridge, which offers them no other access.

Some still use the median, despite the vertical barriers, and the ban by the DOT, which followed their installation.

The city has offered free passage for cyclists on CARTA buses, and now hopes to provide a better solution for all who would use the bridge without benefit of a motor vehicle.

Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. hopes the city and county will support a study of the bridge to determine how best to provide safe pedestrian and cyclist use. One possibility is converting a traffic lane on the six-lane bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. Another is constructing a cantilevered bike lane and walkway outside of the bridge rail. Either project would create another recreation amenity for the area, while moving toward a comprehensive bikeway solution for the metropolitan area.

The North Bridge, formally known as the World War II Memorial Bridge, connects West Ashley and North Charleston. Already an essential span, its importance will increase as renewal projects advance for North Charleston and the Charleston Neck. The city already plans a retrofitting project for the smaller Legare Bridge connecting West Ashley and the peninsula.

"It's unsafe, untenable and uncivilized to have a highway system that doesn't allow for bike and pedestrian access," the mayor said in comments at the town hall meeting. Plans to provide that access for the North Bridge should be put on the fast track, given the existing hazard.