Boeing wants to shift road

Boeing Co. wants to build part of its 787 Dreamliner assembly building directly atop South Aviation Avenue in North Charleston.

Of course, it plans to move that section of the road first.

Recently filed state and federal permit applications show two roadway projects to help improve the traffic flow in an already congested area around Charleston International Airport.

After the 787 assembly plant is completed in mid-2011, Boeing estimates it will have roughly 5,400 workers reporting to the site, including employees at its existing fuselage factories. The new production line will account for 3,800 of those.

Though the plans aren't final, maps filed with regulators show the company is proposing to shift a portion of South Aviation Avenue closer to Interstate 526 to accommodate part of the plant.

Site work on the alignment could start as early as Dec. 14, according to documents filed with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control's Office of Coastal Resource Management.

Plans also show an additional entrance to Boeing's North Charleston site where Michaux Parkway meets International Boulevard. That would extend Michaux into the aerospace giant's manufacturing campus.

A $150,000 state-funded study is expected to take a closer look at traffic around the Boeing site. That money will come from a $450 million incentive package put together by state and local officials to lure the aviation giant's second assembly facility to the region.

At its monthly meeting last week, Charleston County Aviation Authority discussed the study and the roadway improvements that might be needed.

"The challenge is integrating an operation this size into a finite space," said David Jennings, chairman of the authority, which operates Charleston International Airport and is Boeing's landlord.

One pressing issue for the airport and air travelers is the growing number of afternoon commuters who exit I-526 onto International Boulevard and turn left on Michaux as a short cut to Dorchester Road, Jennings said after Thursday's meeting.

The Post and Courier's
Boeing Special Section.

"How do we get people to the terminal without having them sit in traffic for an hour?" he asked.

Jennings estimated that 75 percent of the vehicles that travel the roads in that area is not generated by airport activity.

"As we got closer to the Boeing announcement, we began telling people at the state that somebody has to do something about our roads because we can't manage everything we have now, plus 3,800 more people," he said.

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.