Siding repair in James Island, SC

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) — The James Island Town Council voted to request that the South Carolina Department of Transportation remove a median from a planned safety improvement project.

The SCDOT project SC-171 involves safety improvements along Folly Road, a busy corridor used daily by island residents. The project includes sidewalks, better crossways and infrastructure updates, but a proposed median has drawn opposition from residents and council members.

“Call us, the people of the Town of James Island foolish, but we know this road, we drive this road every day and we think these are going to be detrimental to our neighborhoods, detrimental to our businesses and detrimental to the functionality of Folly Road,” Councilman Lewis Dodson said.

Dodson made a motion to authorize the mayor’s request that SCDOT remove the controversial median from the project and replace it with other effective safety measures. Thursday evening, the council approved the motion unanimously.

Residents spoke during public comment, defending their concerns about peace, safety, business and quality of life.

“55 years of living on this James Island, I got a big problem with it. I don’t just have a problem. Every person in this folder right here, pages and pages and pages of citizens,” Marilyn Clifford, a James Island community member, said as she showed a packet of signatures protesting the median.

Another resident, John Peters, said the median would add to existing congestion problems on the road.

“They want to just add more to the problem. That’s really what it’s going to be. More congestion. If not, there’ll end up being bumper-to-bumper accidents more than anything and still we’re going to have the problem,” Peters said.

“We want 90%, let’s just work out the safety of the rest of it. That’s the goal,” Dodson said.

Councilman Michael Williams said the town must be willing to fight to ensure the rest of the project moves forward if the median is rejected.

Just two weeks ago, SCDOT engineers came to talk about the project with the community members and nearly everyone echoed the same sentiment: they liked most of the plan, just not the median.

After continuing to ask if it was possible to move forward with the improvement project without the medians, residents feel they are still in the dark with no clear answer from engineers.

“I was told he was noncommittal and listened to us, but I felt like he was somewhat defensive of the project. I feel like he believes that it will not happen if we don’t, but he did imply that he would look at things again,” Mayor Brook Lyon said.

A concern engineers expressed during the last meeting two weeks ago was that the project’s funding would be dependent on the median’s cost.

Lyon said the town will begin conversations with federal representatives to explore alternative options and what that means for funding the rest of the project.

“We have to be willing to fight to the nth degree to make sure that 90% happens to make sure that the feds commit to making this happen if we reject the median,” Williams said.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) — As Charleston County moves forward with a more than $350 million road project aimed at easing congestion at the intersection of U.S. Highway 17 and Main Road, some drivers said the construction is disrupting their daily routine and raising safety concerns.

The long-planned project includes building a new interchange with flyover off-ramps connecting northbound and southbound U.S. 17 to Main Road, along with a Main Road spur bridge over U.S. 17. County leaders have said the improvements are designed to address persistent traffic backups in one of the region’s fastest-growing areas.

A key concern for one driver, James Adams, is the closure of Old Charleston Highway, which is being used to store construction equipment and allow crews to move between the two major roadways. The closure has limited direct access to several nearby businesses, including a Waffle House, a laundromat and a seafood restaurant.

Drivers who once used Old Charleston Highway as a side route now must enter and exit through the heavily congested intersection, navigating fast-moving traffic and frequent standstills.

Adams, who has lived in the area since 2016 and commutes from James Island, said he used to regularly visit the Waffle House near the intersection. Now, he often avoids it.

“With the construction, it’s not safe to turn around,” Adams said. “No matter how far you go down, you’re going to have to fight the traffic and then turn around and come back. I’m living over on James Island, which makes it a big problem.”

He said he is especially frustrated by the decision to block off direct access to the businesses.

“I’m just concerned that they have blocked the entrance into the businesses over here,” Adams said. “I mean, there’s no reason that they can’t allow customers to still come straight across.”

Adams said he has also noticed fewer customers inside the restaurants.

“All the businesses here, not only just Waffle House, are having the same problem,” Adams said. “People are not going… because of this construction. In fact, the Waffle House would normally be completely full right now and there’s just a few people in it.”

Adams said when construction first began, Old Charleston Highway remained open to drivers. Now that access is blocked, he worries the detours are not only inconvenient but potentially dangerous.

Project Manager Herb Nimz said the county understands the frustrations but emphasized the long-term goal of the work.

“We appreciate the community’s patience as the U.S. 17 and Main Road improvements take shape,” Nimz said. “There’s no question that a project of this scale brings temporary disruptions, and the project team is working hard to manage those impacts while keeping this critical work on track. In the end, these short-term inconveniences will pay off with safer travel, reduced congestion, and smoother, more reliable commutes for everyone.”

The overall project is expected to be completed by September 2028. There is currently no timeline for when Old Charleston Highway will reopen.

CHARLESTON — The archive room at the county's main library branch will temporarily close and move its materials before the building undergoes renovations.

The South Carolina room — a room that holds a collection of books, maps and other research materials detailing the history of the state with an emphasis on Charleston and the Lowcountry — will be unavailable starting May 1 for roughly eight to 10 weeks as staff move its contents to 1248 Camp Road on James Island.

The archives will be made available by appointment and electronic correspondence only while at the James Island location, said to Doug Reynolds, CCPL associate director of communications and marketing. He wrote in an email that hours of operation for that location will be released once they’re finalized.

The library on Calhoun Street is the last of the county libraries scheduled for upgrades. The work is part of a $108.5 million referendum that called for updates to all Charleston County Public Library branches, which voters passed in 2014.

While the main location is closed for renovations, the county will lease space at 1142 Morrison Drive — the former International Longshoreman’s Association’s union hall building — for two years.

The new location will have the children, teen and adult book collections, as well as public computer space and room for activities like story time, CCPL Executive Director Angela Craig previously told The Post and Courier.

Located on the Upper Peninsula and close to a CARTA bus stop, the union hall site will be easily accessible for patrons, she said.

The renovations are expected to cost $7.8 million. An additional $3.2 million has been set aside for architecture fees, permitting fees and contingency funding for emergencies and any unforeseen cost increases.

A major part of the renovations include relocating the teen section from the third floor to the second floor, which will make the second floor a dedicated youth services floor. All adult content on the second floor will be moved to the third floor.

The library will also update its technology, like projectors for the auditorium and meeting rooms.

The renovations for the main branch are expected to take around 18 months. Once the construction timeline is finalized, Reynolds wrote that they’ll share specifics on when the library will close.