We’ve all experienced some of the frustrations of “getting around” the Lowcountry – flooded streets, traffic, and limited routes, or “connectivity.” The region’s growth brings all of these issues to the forefront of discussions regarding solutions. The issue cannot be solved by any single effort and will require forethought, vision, and perseverance.
Last week’s blog post (here) focused on resiliency related to the flooding issues. It pointed to the efforts of the Rockefeller Foundation, through its 100 Resilient Cities initiative, to effectively devise strategies that can be utilized by cities worldwide to deal with acute or chronic issues that limit the ability of a region to flourish. This week, ten years following the catastrophic landfall of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans published its own strategic plan Resilient New Orleans (available here), developed in concert with this initiative. There is much to learn from this effort and it holds promise for similar strategies in coastal cities, especially Charleston. Not only is Charleston subject to occasional hurricanes (even earthquakes), but sea level rise appears to have increased the circumstances of chronic flooding in low-lying parts of the region. If we are to continue to flourish as a region, action cannot wait.
The geography of the Lowcountry region also contributes to limitations of “connectivity” – another way of describing alternative routes to navigate between destinations – and to the demands on our existing right-of-ways. We are not likely to see more/new bridges or routes that connecting James Island, Johns Island, West Ashley, downtown, North Charleston, Mt. Pleasant, or any of the other areas of the region any time in the foreseeable future. The reality is that congestion solutions for the region must include the integration of a spectrum of transportation choices (bus transportation, rapid/mass transit, bicycle, high-occupancy-vehicle lanes, etc.) within existing corridors, as well as correcting conditions that inhibit traffic flow (such as a missing turn lane or signal at a critical intersection or a flawed ramp configuration on a limited access route).
On Thursday, Charleston County, the City of Charleston, and traffic engineers from the engineering firm HDR, hosted a public presentation of the planned conversion of a traffic lane of the Ashley River Bridge into a bicycle/pedestrian lane – coverage of the meeting and an animation of the lane configuration is here. The pedestrian/bike lane on the Ashley River Bridge is a significant step forward for the region. HDR’s presentation was understandable, thorough, and well illustrated the anticipated bike/pedestrian lane using the “extra” southbound lane of the Ashley River Bridge. One of the most interesting statistics in the evening’s presentation was the firm’s traffic counts that showed normal congestion on the bridge limited to the hour between 7 am and 8 am. Furthermore, their traffic study revealed that this morning backup was due primarily to the absence of a turning lane at the base of the bridge at Bee Street, a circumstance that is currently being resolved through the reconfiguration of the existing approach lane.
Overcoming the perception that a “lost” traffic lane will create congestion will not be easy and some mayoral candidates are suggesting that they will not support this change, seemingly in an effort to win votes of the naysayers. This lack of vision can slow some of the momentum the region holds for dynamic growth and vibrant livability. If the bike/pedestrian lane is completed on schedule for January 2017, in spite of the opposition, the Charleston region will see the beginnings of incremental connectivity. As this effort unfolds, better ways to enhance its availability to neighborhoods along Highway 61 will certainly be next up.
Too often, politicians try to simplify the complexities of transportation infrastructure by pointing to road construction projects as the panacea to solving traffic problems. It is never that simple. Completion of the 526 “loop,” and the possible construction of an “outer ring road” should not necessarily be the next steps to stemming the snarl of regional traffic. One need only look at Washington, DC, Atlanta, or Nashville, to see the futility of how this type of road building is not the be-all, end-all of problem solving.
The geography of the Charleston region makes using one-size-fits-all transportation strategies, such as the “wheel and spoke” road system, a setup for a transportation system failure that might create more issues than its solves. The false comfort found in a “wheel and spoke” (ring road) transportation system for this region is undermined by the fact that all points connect only by primary roadways. There really isn’t any widespread “connectivity” that allows you to navigate via secondary roads between destinations. And any traffic interruption shuts down the entire system. Recently an accident involving a truck carrying a volatile load closed the bridge connecting Charleston to Mt. Pleasant, and all other roadways in the area were at a standstill. Social media was abuzz with the relief found by a few people who avoided the shutdown by using a small water taxi service to cross the river to get home.
Finding ways to connect will require loads of creativity in planning and resource allocation, as well as widespread public buy-in to using a broad range of solutions. At least one of the mayoral candidates is even focusing on transportation as the lynchpin of their campaign. Many efforts will need to coalesce to work for the entire region. Last fall Historic Charleston Foundation along with the City of Charleston enlisted the assistance of the urban transportation expert Gabe Klein to develop a Peninsula Mobility Report (here), and at IfYouWereMayor.com, some additional possibilities have been posed by the Coastal Conservation League (here), Charleston Moves (here), the Coastal Transit Institute (here) and others (here and here).
Everyone should be seeking win-win strategies. That is the beauty in the success of the bike/pedestrian lane on the Ravenel Bridge and what appears to be possible with the bike/pedestrian lane crossing the Ashley River. It’s a cinch that our transportation planners should be looking at every option and to cities with similar geography for a full range of inter-connected solutions to stem the tide of the region’s congestion problems. Nothing will make them completely go away, but it is a certainty that managing the issues will not rest on concentric ring roads as necessarily the first or, ultimately, the only course of action.
