Ashley River Bicycle & Pedestrian Bridge

THE LATEST

The new Ashley River Bicycle & Pedestrian Bridge was discussed during Committees of Charleston City Council on September 24, 2024. Discussion revolved around the changes to the project being planned by Mayor Cogswell. If you missed it, you can watch the recordings:

  • Committee on Traffic & Transportation HERE — entire discussion is the bridge project
  • Committee on Ways & Means HERE — the bridge items start at 6:15

Mayor Cogswell is uncomfortable with allowing people using the new bridge to cross Lockwood at the slip lane and Bee Street intersection. He has asked USDOT to change the project to connect the bridge to a boardwalk along the river (called the “Ashley River Walk,” a 2018 project from the Tecklenburg Administration that has some of its permits and no construction funding). According to the mayor’s update, once people travel over the bridge into downtown, they would be required to either go left on the boardwalk to Brittlebank Park, or right on the boardwalk to the Marina Variety Store. There would no longer be direct access straight into the city center, including to the Medical District. Travelers would utilize existing signals and crosswalks to get across Lockwood, bicycling a portion of Calhoun Street to access the Medical District.

The mayor asked the Traffic & Transportation Committee to support his requests of awarding a contract to finalize the Ashley River Walk design, as well as a separate request to amend the agreement with USDOT. The amendments to the agreement are a codification to some required changes last year, and unrelated to the Ashley River Walk. A very important item that was approved by the Ways & Means Committee allows a contractor to move ahead to coordinate the overall bridge project’s construction and inspection. Finally, there was mention of the City coordinating with the round Holiday Inn to discuss a boardwalk connection on the West Ashley side.

OUR TAKE:
It is vital to add the Bee/Lockwood connection back into the design, and also ensure safe crossing across Lockwood at either end of the Ashley River Walk. Connecting the new Ashley River Bridge directly to the Medical District was a significant part of the vision for the project, and a key factor for the federal grant award (particularly the benefit-cost analysis). MUSC contributed funding to the grant application’s match. Constructing a well-designed Ashley River Walk that can appropriately accommodate hundreds of people biking and walking is a wonderful addition; however, it should not impact the original design intent. This does not need to be an either/or situation. We firmly believe the project can include both the Bee/Lockwood connection and the Ashley River Walk.

And of utmost importance: the project needs to break ground immediately; none of the proposed changes should be allowed to negatively affect the timeline or funding. 

Councilmember Seekings rightly pointed out during discussion that the Bee/Lockwood connection to the new Ashley River Bridge is an important opportunity to slow down the slip lane (the existing right turn before the Bee/Lockwood signal used by motorists coming off the bridge and going south onto Lockwood). Slowing the slip lane would be a safety improvement for everyone, motorists included. Frankly, it is inappropriate for anyone to be able to drive 40+ miles per hour anywhere on the peninsula, which is what the slip lane encourages.

There are currently no formal plans to improve the pedestrian crossing for Lockwood at the Marina Variety Store, or a crossing for Lockwood at Westedge, or to safely bicycle along Fishburne or Calhoun. If bridge users are going to be redirected to these corridors, it is imperative that safety improvements are planned, funded (not using Ashley River Bridge money), and installed concurrently with the bridge project.

We agree with Councilmember Seekings’ suggestion that the design discussions continue. We stand ready to work together with the design team and make this project the best it can be, serving the most people for both transportation and recreation, and keeping it on track.

Please feel free to contact us with questions, or you can reach out to your councilmember now that they have received information from the mayor.

ONGOING PRIORITY

Through the United States Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) competitive grant opportunities, the City of Charleston earned a BUILD grant in 2019 to fund a large portion of a separate bicycle and pedestrian bridge south of the existing Ashley River Bridges. Throughout the pandemic, the City diligently worked through the federal permitting process. COVID and supply chain issues caused project delays, cost increases and a subsequent funding deficit. Thankfully, through a collaborative partnership between the City of Charleston, SCDOT, BCDCOG and CHATS leadership team, the necessary additional funds were identified from federal, state, and local sources. This came to fruition by a unanimous vote by CHATS on April 18, 2022. The City also allocated additional local and federal funding through collaboration among City Council and the USDOT. After meeting the first federal obligation deadline, the new Ashley River Bridge was on track to have a design-build contract awarded and construction starting in 2023. Mayor Tecklenburg hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking in the fall of 2023. Beginning in 2024, the project construction had been delayed, with a new goal to begin construction in the summer of 2024. That did not happen, and the public learned that the new mayor was working on design changes.

Our Ashley River Bridge Package

Three major bridge sets connect communities across the Ashley River within Charleston County:

  • the James Island Connector and Wappoo Cut Bridge
  • the pair of Memorial and Legare Bridges
  • the North Bridge to Cosgrove Avenue

None of these bridges are currently safe for people on bike or foot. In less than a decade, at least thirteen people have been injured or killed while walking or biking these bridges. As congestion and costs increase, we must have safe options for all modes of transportation.

As many designs have been studied and debated for these bridges for decades, the need for safe crossings only becomes more urgent. Citizens, business owners, and tourists alike want to travel safely between the peninsula, West Ashley, James Island and North Charleston without having to rely solely on motor vehicles. Job and housing security, as well as public safety, depends upon it.

You can view our work on a Better North Bridge HERE and the Wappoo Cut Bridge HERE. The James Island Connector is more complicated, with no safe pedestrian options allowed by SCDOT, and the latest study from the City on bicycle access HERE.

HISTORY

A safe Ashley River crossing for people on bikes and foot has been debated since the 1920s! In the 1980s, Mayor Riley began asserting that the problem should be solved. Real study began in 2010, with examination of a stand-alone bridge, a cantilevered bridge, and ultimately, conversion of the fourth lane for bicycles and pedestrians on the eastbound bridge (the Legare Bridge). The lane conversion on Legare was chosen as the best option, with the project lead being the City of Charleston, and the design included adding a left turn lane for motor vehicles where the bridge touches down at the intersection of Bee and Lockwood.

The Legare lane conversion project timeline went as follows:

  • Left turn lane groundbreaking (February 12, 2016)
  • Left turn lane installation (Completed April 1, 2016)
  • Lane closure test period (February 2 — Early May, 2016)
  • Charleston County releases test results (June 2016)
  • Charleston City Council re-affirms support (July 19, 2016)
  • Charleston County Council requests SCDOT weigh in on structural integrity of the bridge, 60-day deadline (September 20, 2016)

Charleston County Council officially voted to rescind support of the project on August 17, 2017, despite widespread public support, and at least three major bicycle crashes occurring during the year. The City of Charleston, as project lead, still supported the project, but was ultimately overridden by SCDOT.

Charleston Moves, Charleston County, the City of Charleston and project consultants convened to decide next steps. Consulting engineers asserted that the James Island Connector could not be cantilevered, and that the SCDOT would not allow pedestrians in the Connector’s breakdown lane. Project cost estimates of a stand-alone bridge adjacent to the Legare Bridge proved to be similar to a cantilevered design with a stand-alone portion along the bridge’s bascule (drawbridge). In October 2017, the City of Charleston and Charleston County approved matching funds ($1.5M and $3M, respectively) for a federal TIGER grant application to fund a stand-alone bike and pedestrian bridge. Charleston Moves helped gather support letters (totaling more than 80) and other documentation to assist with the application. Unfortunately, the grant was not approved.

In July 2018, the City of Charleston and Charleston County recommitted their matching funds for a new round of the federal grant application, now called the BUILD grant. Charleston Moves again assisted with support letters. For the second year, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) did not select the Ashley River Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge as a priority project for funding.

For a third time, the City and County recommitted funding and applied for a USDOT BUILD grant. Working together, we collected 222 support letters from businesses, organizations and elected officials. On November 6, 2019, the City of Charleston was officially awarded $18.149M in federal funding to construct a standalone bike/ped bridge over the Ashley River. With a local match from the City, County, and MUSC (secured before the application was submitted in July), the total funds for the project come to around $23M, and the scope includes 3 intersection upgrades to ensure safe access to/from the bridge: Bee/Lockwood, Folly/West Ashley Greenway, Wappoo/West Ashley Greenway.

West Ashley is the City’s largest residential population, and the peninsula is the largest employment center. The route is identified as a priority in the West Ashley Plan, People Pedal CHS, Battery2Beach and the East Coast Greenway.