Create better bridge links

The preliminary results of a survey detailing the use of the Ravenel Bridge by pedestrians and cyclists should be a major encouragement to local and state officials to provide ease of access on other spans in the metropolitan area.

It's no surprise that the Ravenel Bridge has been an attractive incentive for residents to exercise recreationally, but the survey by College of Charleston researchers also found that more than 10 percent of those polled use the bridge's walkway/bike lane to commute. That suggests another solution to higher gas prices and parking problems for those who work on the peninsula.

The health benefits created by the Ravenel walkway were described in a Monday article by reporter David Quick in this newspaper's "Your Health" section. Vonie Gilreath, senior planner for the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments, summed up the survey findings in that report:

"The preliminary results of this survey clearly show that if sidewalks and bike lanes are included in roadway design, residents will increase their physical activity as part of their daily routine — be it recreation or commuting to work."

Unfortunately, other existing bridge links aren't easy for pedestrians and cyclists to use. The city of Charleston, however, plans to retrofit the Legare Bridge over the Ashley River for that use, and to provide safe access to and from the bridge.

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. also has committed the city to help make the North Bridge linking Charleston and North Charleston usable for foot and bicycle traffic. The North Bridge not only has no access, pedestrians and cyclists are forbidden by the state Department of Transportation from using the bridge. That absence of access on a bridge in the center of the metropolitan area isn't acceptable.

Improving North Bridge access is being studied by consultants for the city and county, who reportedly have questioned whether it can be done without a costly retrofit. Transportation officials also have cited access problems created by the existing interchange at I-26, just north of the bridge.

The city of Charleston's ability to address access to the Legare Bridge says that a solution should be possible for the North Bridge and for other older urban spans, which either offer no access or, like the Maybank Bridge over Wappoo Cut, have insufficient accommodation for cyclists and pedestrians.