Sea Islands Part 3: Transportation

Susan’s set of ideas for the Sea Islands continues:

I would focus on providing infrastructure to address the projected increased populations on the sea islands (as 1,000s of units are already approved for construction in the next 24 months). I would urge SCDOT and Charleston County to install traffic signals, safe crosswalks, sidewalks and bike paths on the sea islands; in addition to traffic calming devices. I would value and respect the sea islands and promote ways to preserve and protect them.

Wendy’s Redevelopment

Now that the Wendy’s is closed between the northbound and southbound lanes of the 17 Crosstown, I’d like to see the city take over the property and create a park with a large retention pond or other water feature that could absorb some of the flood waters in that area. It should then be crisscrossed with walking paths for MUSC employees who park their cars on Lockwood. The area could be a much improved visual entrance to our city, perform as a solution to some of the flooding and increase walking between areas of businesses, eating establishments and parking.

“West Ashley Village”

The short drive between South Windemere Shopping Center and the Ashley River bridge is the saddest little strip of poorly maintained properties. Both sides of the road are zoned for single family residences only. I believe all of these houses are rental properties, which is easy to understand since buying a house on such a busy route is not very desirable. If these two sides of the road were zoned commercial and entrepreneurs were encouraged to open tea houses, toy stores, clothing stores, etc the neighborhood would definitely start to look a lot better since most businesses invest creative thought, time and money to make their places look desirable to visit. With the existing sidewalks one can easily imagine the foot traffic between the South Windemere Shopping Center and the apartments/conos that are going up at the Albemarle intersection. If the Citadel Mall’s reconditioning is supposed to be the West Ashley Downtown, this could be the West Ashley Village. If that’s too confusing, then call it South Windemere Village. And while you’re at it….. take the parking along Windemere Blvd and make it a city street so that userous fees for parking overnight can be eliminated!

Ferry Routes

I like the idea of the ferries linking park to park …greenspace to greenspace…. this would need tweaking but on the north side of Charleston, public ferries linking WATERFRONT PARK to the YORKTOWN to SHEM CREEK to THE OLD BRIDGE to SULLIVANS ISLAND…. to ISLE OF PALMS to the landing near BIRDS OF PREY CENTER and to BULLS ISLAND or the BULL’S ISLAND FERRY dock with room for bicycles and coordinating/linking the schedule to the bus system.

Charleston Green Plan

In 2007, over 100 Charleston experts met dozens of time to create a roadmap to sustainability for Charleston called the CHARLESTON GREEN PLAN, presented to City Council in 2009. This 162 page plan clearly and deftly outlined how Charleston could move forward as leaders in environmental stewardship critical for our community to thrive.The response by City Council was that the guidelines crafted were accepted as recommendations but not passed into law.

If I were mayor, I’d vow to update and enact the Charleston Green Plan as the roadmap to sustainability for Charleston.

If you want a copy of the Green Plan, they are for sale at the Department of Planning and Sustainability for $35 (75 Calhoun) or it can be downloaded here. Prepare to be astounded by the hard work of the volunteer Green Committee, and heartbroken by the unfortunate curtailing of this community effort by a very small but very loud (and well-connected) opposition. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.

Charleston needs a mandated green plan that creates more green space, improved public transit, bicycling opportunities, sidewalks and better walkability, solar and wind energy, stricter building standards and more responsibility to developers to substantially support community infrastructure.

Let’s make sure the new Mayor is pro-Green Plan and committed to leading our City Council (and community) forward to adopt an updated plan.

Biologist at Arms

I’d empower an environmental biologist on my staff to protect our surrounding wetlands. Wetlands act like a giant sponge holding flood waters back. It’s not the ultimate solution, but it will buy us time as the sea rises.

Fix the Flooding

Every time it rains, East Bay south of I-26 (and sometimes the connector too) flood to the point that cars are bogged in place on a main throughway between Downtown, Uptown, and Mt. Pleasant. Fix the drainage, or elevate the road a few feet for goodness’ sake! Not only is there a relatively easy fix to a persistent issue, it would send a signal that the city gives a hoot about the adjacent neighbors and the low-income neighborhood there.

Save Money with Energy Efficiency

If I were mayor, I would enter into performance contracting with an energy services company (ESCO), to improve City-owned buildings’ energy efficiency. Performance contracts are paid with the cost savings realized by the client (the City), so it is a low-risk investment with great benefits.

Invest in public transportation

If I were mayor, I would invest heavily in public transportation infrastructure, which could raise the quality of life for Charleston’s residents by alleviating traffic and the time miserably spent behind the wheel in traffic; make streets safer for children, pedestrians and bikers; mitigate the pressure to widen scenic roads and mitigate the need for additional parking downtown; and lessen drunk driving.

Pedestrian Walkway Cleanup

I heard some chatter about this idea a while back but don’t know if any action has been taken since:
In order to access the pedestrian bridge over the crosstown, you must walk through a short block of abandoned, condemned and otherwise poorly maintained buildings off of the Line Street side. On the other side of these buildings is the very small Elliotborough park. If I were mayor, I would like to demolish these buildings and expand the park – perhaps with a fountain, walking trail, gardens and benches. It would beautify the neighborhood and also increase use of the bridge.

Better Regional Transit

We’ve been working on these issues for some time now. Ridership on CARTA is up and hundreds of thousands of trips are made on transit within the city every month. However the next step will have to be more than adjusting existing bus routes and must reach and connect areas of the City without good connections such as James Island. West Ashley and Daniel Island. We’re trying to build of dialogue and understanding now. Everyone trying to build a better community should ride the bus at least once in a while. Our new organization, Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit joins others already working on this effort. Here is the Facebook page.

PEDESTRIAN ONLY STREET(S)

King Street already does this a few days out of the year, which is fantastic, yet it should become permanent. Having atleast one pedestrian only street is one of the most enjoyable common denominators we’ve found in other great cities of the world. The walkability of Charleston is one of its best attributes. It should be encouraged.

Traffic flow

This can be such an easy fix. There are two lanes coming off the JI Connector approaching Folly Road. As it stands now, the left lane opens to two left turn lanes and the right lane becomes a right turn lane onto Folly There’s way too much confusion as commuters in the right lane simply move into the left lane as it opens.. The main two lanes need to continue on as a left turn and the right hand spur can move onto a right turn onto Folly Rd. Accident potential is too high there.

Small Parks on Upper King Street.

With the massive amounts of hotels being built downtown, we really need to think about green space. Can the City work with the Charleston County Park Service on buying some of the rare land that comes up for sale occasionally for green space? A key piece right now is next to Indaco Restaurant. It would be much better to have benches, landscaping and a fountain there than another building.

More Parking Love for those who pay taxes

As a City of Charleston property tax payer, it sure would be nice to be shown some love with the parking lots and garages which are owned (and often not managed) by the city. I know the city has worked hard to move us into garages and off of the streets. Some sort of appreciation would be noticed as a local.