Residents press leaders for answers on Clements Ferry growth at packed forum
On a stretch of road that many residents say already feels like it’s bursting at the seams, nearly 200 people packed into a multipurpose room at Philip Simmons Elementary on March 30, hoping for clarity about what comes next along Clements Ferry Road.
After more than two hours of questions, concerns, and tension at times, some residents said they left feeling they had fewer answers than when they walked in.
The community meeting, organized by Huger resident Wade Malloch, brought together a lineup of local and state leaders, including State Rep. Mark Smith, State Sen. Larry Grooms, Berkeley County Supervisor Johnny Cribb, County Councilman Jarrod Brooks, Charleston Mayor William Cogswell, City Councilman Boyd Gregg, South Carolina Department of Transportation officials, and Lori Cary-Kothera, chief conservation officer of the Coastal Conservation League.
The format was simple: residents lined up at a microphone, voiced concerns, and officials responded if they could.
Malloch opened the evening by grounding the conversation in history and scale.
“Let’s put some things into perspective,” he said, pointing to how the Cainhoy peninsula – land that once sold for a few hundred-thousand dollars – has since transformed into one of the fastest-growing corridors in the Lowcountry. What was once described as “behind God’s back,” he noted, is now facing “fast-attacking growth and sprawl that is unimaginable.”
“The state planners have given this area an F, which means gridlock," he said, "and the traffic is going to be unbearable. 60,000 cars a day coming and going with only one way to get on to Mark Clark."
TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC, AND MORE TRAFFIC
Unsurprisingly, traffic dominated the discussion.
Some residents questioned why Clements Ferry Road wasn’t widened further than four lanes, but Cogswell cautioned against viewing lane expansion as a fix-all.
“Widening roads in order to control growth is like dieting by loosening your belt. It can actually make matters worse … You can widen it to eight lanes, but if you don't address 526, that is where all the failure occurs.”
That bottleneck, particularly getting off I-526, sparked some of the most urgent concerns.
“I have an immediate safety concern about when we're getting off I-26 to Clements Ferry Road. It's dangerous,” said resident Martha Nelson. “We get backed up towards that bridge. I've got my two young 5- and 7-year-olds in the back seat. We need to come up with a solution before someone gets killed.”
Rep. Mark Smith, who lives near Marina Drive off Clements Ferry Road, didn’t disagree.
“What you’re saying is the gospel. It is atrocious,” he said.
Officials pointed to signal timing adjustments during rush hour as a short-term fix, but residents pushed back, noting congestion happens well beyond peak hours.
Sen. Larry Grooms pointed to one potential path forward: a proposal to allow South Carolina to take over federal permitting, which could speed up road projects. He also raised the possibility of “choice lanes,” where private companies would build additional toll lanes to increase capacity.
Still, he acknowledged the limitations of current funding. “Right now, I-26 would not be eligible to receive any funds for the widening until 2034,” he said, and that’s if nothing else in the state takes priority.
STOPLIGHTS, SIDEWALKS, AND WHAT’S IN THE WORKS
Questions about basic infrastructure, including stoplights and sidewalks, revealed both progress and uncertainty.
“Every development, before it comes in, has to do a traffic analysis, and if it warrants a light, they have to put a light in,” Cribb said. “We are synchronizing the timing of lights on Clements Ferry, which helps with the flow of traffic. SCDOT’s not going to warrant traffic signals closer than about 1,500 feet.”
The traffic signals closest in the pipeline will be at Cooper Towne Road (2620 Clements Ferry Road), the new mixed-use development on the west end of Clements Ferry, and Beresford Run, where the city is also building a new fire station on the east side of the Ferry. SCDOT noted that each traffic signal costs about $250,000 and requires ongoing maintenance.
Sidewalks and trails, another frequent concern, may be closer to reality.
Cribb said a trail system stretching from Interstate 526 to the end of Clements Ferry Road is now just months away, after earlier plans in the Phase 1 widening project were delayed to prioritize road construction.
SAFETY CONCERNS HIT CLOSE TO HOME
A parent’s description of conditions around the Philip Simmons schools, particularly Seven Sticks Drive – the only thoroughfare to access the schools – struck a nerve in the room, many of them fellow parents.
“We’ve got three incredible schools locked down a one-way road with all of our community’s kids here. And we can’t access them in a situation of an emergency,” the parent said.
She described incidents she has witnessed in recent years: administrators running on foot to emergencies, officers driving on sidewalks, and gridlock preventing ambulances from getting through.
“We are so close to a potentially devastating tragedy here. The second I get a text or an email from the school that there's an emergency situation here, all of us are holding our breath.”
The room responded with loud agreement, with some residents shouting, “Who planned this?”
Charleston City Councilman Boyd Gregg said after the meeting he is looking into school access concerns, including discussions with Point Hope Partners about past planning decisions. He noted the elementary and middle schools opened in 2016 and the high school in 2017, when the area looked very differentand many of those involved are no longer part of the process, adding the layout “doesn’t make a lot of sense” today.
While he said traffic has not been an issue during drop-offs or events at Philip Simmons High School, he said, “I certainly understand the concern about emergency vehicles being able to get through, especially if the enrollment at the schools grows.”
Looking ahead, he said the planned connection of Ten Point Drive to Clements Ferry Road will provide an additional access point to the schools, though potential bottlenecks may still need to be addressed.
GROWTH VS. ENVIRONMENT
Beyond traffic, many residents voiced concern about what rapid development is doing to the environment, especially wetlands.
Malloch criticized plans that could alter large portions of marshland.
“They want to put 700 to 900 docks there, and they want to cover 200 acres of wetlands. That doesn’t work. It just doesn’t work,” he said.
Cary-Kothera of the Coastal Conservation League explained the broader implications.
“You’re taking that natural sponge away, and you're going to get exacerbated with flooding issues,” she said, pointing to rising sea levels and increased rainfall. She suggested alternative development approaches, like clustering housing to preserve green space and allow for floodwater storage.
The group is also pushing to revisit a decades-old development plan that could bring at least 12,000 new homes to the area and has gathered more than 5,000 petition signatures ahead of a planned presentation to Charleston City Council.
“Things were very different 30 years ago,” Cary-Kothera said. “We just want to make sure that the development… is looking at current and future conditions.”
SIGNS OF PROGRESS
Amid the concerns, officials outlined several steps underway.
Cogswell said the city is under contract to purchase land for a new fire station on Clements Ferry Road and is acquiring a 20-acre parcel for a larger public safety and recreation complex.
“We're buying that to put an ambulance, police station, and another fire station, potentially two more fire stations, and a (recreation) facility, which will be a water facility and a gymnasium,” he said.
Cogswell also pointed to two proposed state bills, one to accelerate DOT permitting and another to require infrastructure to be in place before development begins.
“Those two bills would help tremendously in our efforts here in the local community,” he said.
A COMMUNITY STILL SEEKING ANSWERS
As the meeting stretched past the two-hour mark, frustrations became more visible.
“I have stood here for almost two hours and not one question has been answered,” one resident said, drawing applause. She challenged leaders directly: “Not only have questions not been answered – there was difficulty recognizing certain areas on Clements Ferry Road. You don’t know your district. You don’t know your county.”
She urged the audience to vote accordingly and said that when, or if, they reconvene with another town hall meeting in three months, officials should come prepared with answers.
“You knew what the questions were because these are not new questions. You knew what the problems were because these are not new problems. We’reasking you to hear us; we’re asking you to do your jobs.”
POINT HOPE RESPONDS
The Daniel Island News reached out to representatives for Point Hope Partners, the developer responsible for the day-to-day operations of the 9,000-acre master-planned community located on the Cainhoy peninsula.
“I can’t speak for the many other properties that are developing along Clements Ferry Road, but much of the information that was apparently communicated about Point Hope at the meeting was inaccurate or incomplete,” said Point Hope Partners spokesperson Julie Dombrowski.
“Discussions regarding school-related traffic concerns have been taking place between developers, engineers, and school and community leaders for some time now. We have suggested that the schools stage their arrival and dismissal times and suggested that the DOT adjust the timing of the traffic light at Point Hope Parkway and Clements Ferry Road.”
Regarding the construction of docks: “No dock permits have been applied for at this time. The suggestion that 700+ docks are going to be built is a theoretical estimate based on the amount of waterfront across the broader property, not an approved development plan. It is premature to estimate dock counts,” Dombrowski said, noting that environmental factors will limit where docks will be built.
Finally, Dombrowski said, “In regard to the suggestion that the developer will be ‘covering 200 acres of wetlands’: A 200-acre parcel of land will not be ‘covered.’ In fact, 96% of the wetlands and marsh (4,530 acres) on the property will be preserved. The total number of wetlands impacted will be 178 acres ... most of which would be impacted to improve connectivity between neighborhoods or to widen existing logging roads.”