Johns Island toll road unlikely

A toll road probably isn't in the cards for Johns Island.

Elected officials from the southern end of Charleston County say they're still considering building a road that spans a part of the island — just not one people have to pay to drive on.

At a Wednesday meeting called by Charleston Mayor Joe Riley to open a dialogue about a future road on the island, Riley met with Charleston County Councilmen Paul Thurmond and Curtis Inabinett, and the mayors of Rockville and Kiawah and Seabrook islands.

Some of the mayors and councilmen also invited community members and town officials to attend. But the meeting might have been improperly called under the state's open meeting law because the public wasn't notified.

Riley requested the gathering in late October so elected officials could reach a consensus about building a road that runs across Johns Island from the intersection of Maybank Highway and River Road to the southern end of the island, near Kiawah and Seabrook islands.

He said he was trying to defuse a contentious debate over a proposed toll road, which he doesn't think has the support of the majority of Johns Island residents.

Riley said after the meeting, which took place at Charleston County's Lonnie Hamilton III Public Services Building, that it should have been open to the public. "I don't know why it wasn't," he said, adding that the group will notify the public about future meetings.

County officials said they are researching whether the group's meetings must be open to the public under state law.

Riley also admitted that earlier this month he failed to notify the public about a meeting of the commission that will make decisions about a memorial to the firefighters who died in the Savannah Highway Sofa Super Store fire.

Riley said at Wednesday's meeting that additional roads are needed on Johns Island, particularly south of Maybank. He thinks a road should be built from the northern end of the island to the southern end, near Kiawah and Seabrook islands.

But he doesn't like the idea of a four-lane, limited-access toll road, known as the Sea Islands Parkway, which was strongly supported by Thurmond. "The scale of that for Johns Island wasn't correct," he said.

Supporters of the proposed parkway said it would reduce the traffic problems on Johns Island's network of scenic two-lane roads, and would not contribute to the development of the island.

But opponents said building the four-lane road would harm the island's rural character and encourage more development.

Thurmond said he wasn't committed to the idea of a toll road. It was simply a way to finance one.

Riley said the toll road proposal has so much resistance on Johns Island that it's not a good idea to keep pushing it. "We need to find the right route and get it on the list" of construction projects, he said.

Riley said he "had in mind a rural road" that runs between River and Bohicket roads and is connected to many other roads.

Inabinett, who represents Johns Island, said the mayor's meeting was similar in composition to a committee he tried to form to discuss the proposed road. But his proposal included Johns Island residents and "other stakeholders." Inabinett invited five community members from Johns and Wadmalaw islands to attend the meeting.

Louise Maybank, a Wadmalaw resident, said she thinks the group is looking only at a small portion of Johns Island and it needs to take into account traffic and congestion on the entire island. And she wants all future road building to be sensitive to the culture of rural people on Johns and Wadmalaw islands. Unlike the elected officials, island residents might not largely support a road across Johns Island, even if it's not a toll road, she said.

Seabrook Mayor Frank McNulty and Kiawah Mayor Bill Wert said they are concerned about safety on the island's two-lane roads.

McNulty said the only viable option put forth so far to make roads safer is to build a road down the middle of the island. "We're ambivalent about it being a toll road," he said.

Riley said the meeting was the first of many the group will hold to decide the best way to ease congestion and preserve the environment on Johns Island.

Thurmond, who represents Kiawah and Seabrook islands, said he thinks the meeting was a good first step.

He hopes it will lead to moving forward with building a road to make the island safer and to serve the growing population.

But he hopes it doesn't lead to more studies. "It's been studied, and studied and public-hearinged out," he said.