Five-lane Maybank would be wrong path for Johns Island

Charleston County Council made a wise decision when it voted to fund a study comparing two transportation alternatives for Maybank Highway. The debate is significant because the two alternatives being studied represent two distinct futures for Johns Island.

Streets are the most abundant public space in most communities. Nationally we spend about one-fifth of our GNP on transportation. An investment this large over space this abundant is bound to shape the character of a community.

Historically, streets were built with the capacity to support businesses, provide access to homes and parks, serve children walking to school and to carry vehicular traffic. It is this last function that consumes most of our study efforts these days, but we often make the mistake of thinking of all traffic as being the same. In reality, our streets serve many different types of traffic. A person driving to the grocery store creates traffic, as does someone traveling from Wadmalaw to James Island. The one thing that all traffic has in common is that people are moving from an origin to a destination. In order to find the most effective solution to our traffic problems, we need to understand where the origins and destinations are.

Maybank Highway, like other streets of its type, carries a mix of local and through traffic. Local traffic is that traffic that is traveling to a destination on Maybank Highway. Through traffic is just what it sounds like; traffic that is using Maybank to get from an origin and to a destination not located on Maybank Highway or on Johns Island. People who drive Maybank every day know that traffic slows down and often backs up when other drivers are turning into a business or development along the road.

Local traffic and through traffic don't mix well. Local traffic slows down through traffic. Through traffic adds time to our otherwise short local trips. This conflict is only going to become more pronounced as Johns Island develops. According to the Berkley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments, 62 percent of the trips on Maybank Highway by 2030 will be local. Only 38 percent of those driving Maybank will be traveling through Johns Island to get to another destination. Any solution to Johns Island's traffic problems needs to consider this important information.

CHOICE 1: Roadwise has proposed to solve Maybank's traffic problems by widening the highway to five lanes. This will temporarily help traffic flow by adding capacity to the road to better accommodate those traveling through Johns Island by making room for those that need to slow down or stop to turn. But a significant flaw is that a five-lane Maybank will still carry all the through trips and all local trips because there are no other roads for those people to use. As the Maybank corridor develops and Maybank fills back up (as it inevitably will), the same lack of options for local trips and slowing down of through traffic will occur as it does on five lane corridors like Savannah Highway.

CHOICE 2: The other option is building an efficient three lane street on Maybank to effectively move the 38 percent of trips that are going through. Then, rather than spending all of the sales tax funding on a five-lane Maybank Highway, the remaining funds could be used to connect the street network on Johns Island so that all of the through and local trips do not have to rely on the same road to get to a destination. Local trips could use back streets to quickly get to the Piggly Wiggly or the Charleston County Library without having to mix in with the commuters on Maybank Highway.

In these competing visions of the future, more is at stake than merely how long people might sit in congestion. A five-laning of Maybank will inevitably lead to the suburbanization of Johns Island. Even if the population of the island doesn't grow significantly, Johns Island will look and feel like James Island, West Ashley and Mount Pleasant.

Those aren't bad places to live, but Johns Islanders have been adamant that they want to maintain their rural character. The placeless character that will develop along a five-lane arterial road is entirely predictable and is inconsistent with the desires the community has articulated. With the second option, Johns Island will have a slightly widened Maybank, with a planted median and center turning lanes to keep traffic moving. But much of the local traffic that currently uses Maybank would be handled by the newly connected local streets. This will provide more choices, safer walking environments and better maintain Johns Island's rural character and unique identity, even if the Maybank corridor sees significant growth.

Charleston County Council is doing the right thing by looking at traffic models to better understand how the proposal to five-lane Maybank compares with the proposal to build a street network on Johns Island.

Charleston is one the most beautiful and unique cities in the United States. Charleston County Council has the choice to build new transportation networks that not only solve traffic problems, but that also enhance the character of the communities.

I urge Charleston County Council to make the choice not to build a five-lane highway across Johns Island. Rather, County Council should make the choice to both manage Johns Island's traffic problems and to maintain the character of the Johns Island community.

Paul Moore, P.E., a traffic engineer from Atlanta, has consulted with local governments on various projects in the Charleston area.