Find resources for bridge study

A study to improve pedestrian and bicycle access for the North Bridge should be undertaken by the state Department of Transportation, even if it can't be done in conjunction with an ongoing review of Interstate-26 improvements. The absence of safe access shouldn't be allowed to continue indefinitely.

The state DOT reports that a request to include the bridge review in a consultant's study of widening nearby I-26 failed to meet federal highway guidelines for funding. The interstate study includes the Cosgrove Avenue interchange, near the bridge.

The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments had requested the bridge's inclusion because of its proximity to the interchange. Improvements to the interchange could affect the bridge's potential for pedestrian and bicyclist access.

Access is virtually non-existent at present, and the bridge has been declared off limits to pedestrian and bicycle traffic by state highway officials. The DOT has installed barriers along the narrow median to provide better lane separation between opposing traffic. The median, however, continues to be used by some pedestrians and cyclists to cross the bridge. There is no bike lane or sidewalk.

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. has declared improved access to urban bridges a priority in general, and has cited the North Bridge as a specific problem that deserves a timely remedy. The city's plan to provide more access on the Legare Bridge over the Ashley River with a lane outside the bridge's railing could serve as an example.

COG should continue to press for funding assistance for the project, which could include adapting an existing traffic lane for pedestrians and cyclists, or otherwise retrofitting the bridge. The popularity of the walking-cycling lane on the Ravenel Bridge has made the case for improved access to all urban bridges.

Of course, the North Bridge offers nothing quite so dramatic as the view from the Ravenel Bridge. But the willingness of pedestrians and cyclists to use the bridge to travel between Charleston and North Charleston is demonstration enough that improvements are in order. Providing for safe access on this state-maintained bridge should be the DOT's responsibility.

If a review of the problem can't be accomplished under the existing consultant's contract, other avenues should be pursued.