ASHLEY RIVER ROAD/HIGHWAY 61 AUDIT + IMPROVEMENTS

History + The Latest

Plan West Ashley was approved in 2018. The following year, the City of Charleston successfully applied for a BUILD grant from USDOT (after two previously unsuccessful attempts), receiving the bulk of funding needed to proceed with the Ashley River Bicycle & Pedestrian Bridge. Addressing the crossing of Highway 61 at the Maryville Bikeway was originally part of the Ashley River Bridge grant applications, but was removed in part because Charleston County agreed to add the intersection to its list of annual Transportation Sales Tax (TST) projects. However, when that list went before County Council for a vote, Councilmember Moody (District 7) objected to the Bikeway crossing project, and it was separated from the list. Charleston Moves advocated to at least keep the funding in the project area, and Council agreed to use it to improve the intersection at Sycamore Avenue. 

Charleston Moves hosted a walking audit for the area in January 2020, which included elected officials, engineers, planners and citizens. During the audit, the group agreed that if people on bicycles were expected to cross at Sycamore Avenue, they needed the sidewalk widened to a path to access the Bikeway. The widened sidewalk should ultimately connect to the wide sidewalk being installed by the developer of the old Food Lion parcel at 61 and Sycamore, though the developer sold most of the parcel to a hospital and it is unclear what the new owner will use from the designs.

This project is an interim solution to addressing the 61/Bikeway crossing, and includes widening the sidewalk from the signal at Sycamore to the Bikeway entrance on the south side of the street, as well as providing bike/ped enhancements at the Sycamore signal itself. The project has gone out for bid multiple times for years; bid responses have been too costly. As of January 27, 2026, Sycamore/61 improvements are on hold while SCDOT decides what they are including for construction in their Road Safety Audit (RSA). 

In February 2023, Charleston Moves staff joined the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) and their consultants, as well as FHWA, the City of Charleston, Charleston County, and the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG), for a Road Safety Audit of SC 61/Ashley River Road from Savage Road to Wesley Drive. The SC 61/Ashley River Road corridor has experienced a combined total of 2,008 vehicular, 28 bicycle, and 18 pedestrian crashes from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2022. Four crashes resulted in a fatality and 12 crashes resulted in an incapacitating injury. 

A great deal of discussion during the audit occurred about the Bikeway crossing. The results of the audit were presented at public meetings in February 2025, including improvements for a Bikeway crossing at 61. 

» Sign our petition

While the comment period has closed, our petition in support of separated bike lanes and an improved crossing at the intersection of 61 and the Maryville Bikeway is still open.

We submitted signatures received so far along with our comment letter to SCDOT. We will resubmit the signatures (including new ones) to the agency once SCDOT revises their concepts and brings them back for further review.