Groups to argue all sides of Maybank

Groups with opposing ideas of what should be done to a section of Maybank Highway on Johns Island hosted a meeting this week in search of more public input.

Previously the city of Charleston and Charleston County reached a stalemate in determining how best to alleviate traffic on the highway. The county's Roadwise, which handles road projects funded with half-cent sales tax revenues, recommended widening Maybank to five lanes between the Stono River and Main Road. But the city would rather create a grid system of roads to diffuse traffic in the area.

Now the city and county are working together on a solution. They, along with the Coastal Conservation League, are paying $90,000 for a transportation study to see if the city's ideas could work for Maybank traffic, and ultimately to identify the best route to take.

While a steering committee was developed, which includes 15 representatives from the county and city planning departments, Roadwise, Coastal Conservation League and the state Department of Transportation, to discuss options, area residents were asked to weigh in as well.

About 90 people attended the public input session Tuesday held at St. John's High School. About half spoke or jotted down comments.

John Lisi said the widening of Maybank Highway is necessary. Developing a grid of streets would take too long due to the number of property owners involved, he said. "People don't want to wait another 15 years."

A grid pattern would not work on Johns Island, said Tricia Hiers, citing the number of people who must leave the island for jobs during rush hour, and the concentration of schools on one side of the island and the development of new neighborhoods on the other. She said the city has a history of creating interconnected neighborhoods and then adding speed humps or blocking them off once those living on the streets complain.

Carol Smith wrote, "Leave Maybank Hwy. alone, build the 526."

"I am opposed to any widening of Maybank between River and Main," wrote Andrew Geer. "This is NOT the problem. The intersections are the problem."

Rick Hall of Florida-based Hall Planning & Engineering called the public input session "very successful," partly because people got "fired up." That's when you get to the bottom of the issues, he said.

Ideally the steering committee will come to a consensus on what to do with Maybank Highway with Hall's help, and will be able to present that to Charleston County Council in mid-June, said Joshua Martin, director of the city's planning, preservation and economic innovation department.

The county agreed in March to pitch in $17,000 for the study. The city will pay $39,000 and Coastal Conservation League will pay $34,000.

The league supports the city's recommendation of a network of roads, which would better preserve Johns Island's rural character, said Director of Conservation Programs Megan Desrosiers.

Desrosiers said the city and county working together on the project is "an important step for transportation and land using planning in the county, especially in areas with multiple jurisdictions."

The traffic study could help determine future traffic projects, she said. Networks of roads may be the solution for streets such as Folly Road and Savannah Highway, but no one in the area has thoroughly studied this alternative to road widening until now.