Maybank decision delayed

County Council wants input on competing plans

Charleston County Council put off a decision Thursday on whether to support a plan for Maybank Highway on Johns Island that creates a network of streets rather than widening the two-lane thoroughfare.

At a meeting of council's Planning and Public Works Committee, members heard a presentation on an alternative to widening the highway from Richard Hall, a consultant jointly hired by the city of Charleston, Charleston County and the Coastal Conservation League.

After the presentation, council members said county staffers need to meet with their counterparts from Charleston to work out differences between the two competing plans.

Charleston City Council late last month approved the alternative plan.

Both plans aim to do something about traffic on Maybank Highway, which backs up from River Road to the Stono River during rush hour.

County officials said Charleston in 2002 submitted the widening of Maybank Highway to the county to be placed on a list of priority road projects. Charleston County voters in a 2006 referendum approved the widening plan.

The county's road-building program, RoadWise, has developed a plan to turn the highway from a two-lane to a four-lane road divided by a wide planted median.

Charleston City Council unanimously approved a "pitchfork" plan, which roughly describes the proposed road network from the Stono River to River Road.

City officials have said the plan disperses traffic and lays the groundwork for the city's plan to develop village-like hubs along the highway that include homes and shops.

County Councilman Paul Thurmond was strongly opposed to the city's plan. Before the committee meeting Thursday, he said the city's plan will be more expensive, and that it doesn't take into consideration the needs of residents in the unincorporated parts of the county, or those who live on Wadmalaw, Kiawah and Seabrook islands.

"I don't believe this is regional planning," Thurmond said. "This helps a municipality that wants to grow like kudzu."

Hall said the city's plan is based on the "latest vision and what the smartest people are doing" in the United States and internationally.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, who attended the meeting, said the city's plan handles traffic better, can be implemented more quickly, requires road builders to acquire less land and enhances the character of Johns Island. He also said it would cost less.

Hall said Thursday that construction costs for each plan would be about $24 million.

Thurmond raised questions about Hall's cost estimate for the alternative plan. When Hall previously presented the plan, Thurmond said, the cost was $56.8 million.

Hall said he revised the figures to make an equal comparison between both plans. The $56.8 million includes an interchange to the proposed extension of Interstate 526 and other things not included in the widening plan, he said.

Riley said he's willing to have city staffers sit down with county employees and talk about the plan. But, he said, the pitchfork plan is "the way to go."

County Council members said they would study the issue again after they get more information from county employees.

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.