Surveying the damage

The closure of the Wando River Bridge and subsequent lane reversal have left many people on Daniel Island feeling a little trapped. Our friendly neighbors in Mount Pleasant seem so far away to people who work, or just want to shop, across the bridge - and the roads leading to North Charleston seem to change by the day.

To get a better sense of how the bridge closure has affected Daniel Island, we asked our readers to share their thoughts via a survey. We received more than 90 responses total – and many of them featured a good bit of outrage and traffic venting, as well as suggestions on how to improve things. One person believes the key to the whole mess is to use “the water taco” (we’re pretty sure they meant to type “water taxi”). Read a sampling of the responses below.

Question 1: How is the bridge closure impacting you?

“I live on Clements Ferry which is already awful. This just makes it worse.”

“Took one hour and 25 minutes to go 7 ½ miles from Heron Reserve Apartments to downtown to Roper Hospital.”

“I am just staying on Daniel Island the whole time.”

“It is taking away hours out of my workday. I work from home on DI but leave to meet clients daily at their place of employment. It’s taking three and four times longer to get places in Charleston, so I am not able to make as many appointments. This is making an impact on my revenue as a small business owner.”

“Makes going to Mt. Pleasant very difficult. Cutting back on Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods runs. Trying to stay on island more.”

“Had to cancel medical appointments.”

“It’s making it difficult for me to get home. Letting people use DI as a detour so they don’t have to wait in line on I 526E is ridiculous. My question is what will the impact to the roads on DI be? We obviously need the road across the small bridge near Blackbaud repaved.”

“Retired so we just avoid rush hours.”

“Dropping kids off at school in Mt. Pleasant adds about 15-20 minutes.”

“Poorly.”

Question 2: What has proven to be the most efficient route for you in terms of getting to and from work or other activities? And how long does the average trip take you?

“Trick is to avoid getting on 526 at the farthest point out! Take Long Point to 526 and then you zip right into the switch lane, also get off at CFR instead of Exit 24.”

“DI to North Charleston - 45 minutes on average.”

“There isn’t one.”

“I have tried them all. Currently NONE are better. I choose based on final destination, so if going to Northcutt, I’ll take the Ravenel. If going to 41, I’ll take Clement’s Ferry. If going to Long Point or Bowman, I’ll stay on 526. But again, ALL are bad!”

“My route remains the same on DI and 526. My routes are more affected by heavy traffic when travelling in Mount Pleasant on Coleman and 17.”

“Luckily, I am retired so I can avoid rush hour. Going to Mt Pleasant, I find it best to exit at Long Point, turn right onto Whipple then right onto Mathis Ferry. From there, just link to Johnnie Dodds at Anna Knapp, Shelmore or other crossroads. Coming back to DI, same route.”

“What is efficient one day is not the next. I will say it was much better when the lanes were NOT reversed because I could know that at least one way was going to be traffic-free and the way home would be horrific. Now both ways are horrific.”

“Daniel Island Ferry. 20 Minutes.”

“Going to downtown Charleston I use I526E to Rt. 17 south to get to the peninsula. Returning home from downtown I was using I26 to I526E…but now that traffic over the Wando is two way...I return to Daniel Island the same way.”

“There don’t appear to be proven ways to beat the system. Any venture across or around the bridge is likely to be costly in terms of time spent on Charleston’s linier parking lots.”

Question 3: What suggestions do you have for SCDOT officials and other local leaders in terms of dealing with the situation and the future health of the bridge?

“Make trucks go through MP, let cars ONLY use the bridge in both directions.”

“Build a new one and use the old one for trucks - they completely ignore the truck lane anyway and that’s never enforces.”

“1. Start planning for a new replacement bridge NOW. 2. Continue replacing cables on both spans of the bridge yearly and don’t wait till they break. 3.Plan & build more roads/beltways around Charleston and don’t settle that existing roads only need to be widened. Another outer beltway is needed as well as another road into downtown. Hey, rail transit works best to move massive amounts of people!”

“Be more proactive.”

“My idea is to build a new bridge on top of the current one and utilize them as a double decker by having one for eastbound and one for westbound like in other big cities where space is an issue.”

“Subsidize the ferry so they can run a commuter shuttle. In other parts of the country water taxis and ferries are subsidized for commuter times so they’re cheaper and a reasonable option.”

“If you are aware that the company who built the bridge/crosswalk in Florida does shoddy work, then let’s go ahead and assume that the work they did on the Wando bridge is probably the same and fix it before it becomes a problem. I’m assuming that checking the condition of the bridge once a week indicated that you had major concerns to begin with.”

“Change the speed limit one mile before and after each bridge. Triple the fines and have more police/cameras within that two mile stretch. Fine trucks that get in the passing lane when directed to the right lane. Safety first on all of this!”

“Feels like a no win. Limit 18-wheelers at rush hour. Police at Fairchild & Corn Planters (on Daniel Island) because that’s been a parking lot from Clements Ferry!

“Be great stewards of our tax dollars and encourage better productivity.”

“I actually think they have done a great job! They acted quickly, have done what they could to alleviate problems as much as possible and, thankfully, the whole darn thing didn’t collapse!”

“A tunnel!”

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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