Maybank & Woodland Shores
Since 2014, four people have been injured and two people have been killed while walking or biking on Maybank Highway between Woodland Shores Road and Fleming Road. This is a corridor that connects neighborhoods, businesses and greenspace. There is a dire need for safety and quality-of-life improvements along James Island’s Maybank Highway corridor, necessitating a complete street vision to make the street safer for all users.
Updates
The Complete Streets improvements for both Maybank and Woodland Shores are expected to go out for bid at the end of 2021. As a reminder, these improvements include: a pedestrian crossing between the Pour House and The Terrace shopping center; a multi-use path along Maybank from Stefan to Woodland Shores; a wide sidewalk along Woodland Shores.
On December 14, 2020, Charleston County Planning Commission voted to not allow drive-thru service in the Planned Development (PD) zoning for the vacant parcels at the corner of Maybank and Woodland Shores. This is great news, and falls in line with the new Maybank Corridor Overlay. The applicant is including a multi-use path along their Maybank frontage and a sidewalk along their Woodland Shores frontage, for which we commend them.
The Commission’s recommendation must get approval by Charleston County Council. Originally we anticipated that vote to take place in January, but the applicant has deferred. Please stay tuned and be ready to reach out to Councilmembers! In the meantime, we’ll keep our petition open, so please sign and keep sharing.
Progress To Date
As of March 2020, County staff has been working on final design for the improvements. Additionally, we successfully updated the proposed Maybank Overlay Zoning to include requirements for a 10’ minimum multi-use path for any new developments or substantial redevelopments along the corridor.
On January 10, 2020, Charleston County submitted a Complete Streets application to the BCDCOG to fund sidewalks along Woodland Shores Road and a multi-use path between Woodland Shores and Stefan Drive, ultimately linking to the already-funded mid-block crossing with pedestrian refuge.
On August 13, 2019, Charleston County Transportation Committee (CTC) voted to approve funding for the mid-block crossing with pedestrian refuge between the Terrace Shopping Center and Pour House! Next up, the City of Charleston will begin work on designing and engineering. HUGE THANKS to neighbors, business owners and Senator Sandy Senn who spoke and submitted letters of support! And of course, thank you to City of Charleston, Charleston County and SCDOT for making the safety of Maybank a priority!
In July 2019, the corridor underwent a microsurfacing, during which the travel lanes were narrowed to slow traffic and the turn lane was widened to make room for a mid-block crossing with pedestrian refuge. This came out of a recommendation from the Safety Review report.
On May 6, 2019, SCDOT published the final Road Safety Review, including our data and recommendations. Check out the full report HERE.
On March 24 and March 27, 2019, Charleston Moves conducted bike and pedestrian counts at key locations (Woodland Shores Road/Maybank Highway intersection, Terrace Shopping Center/Pour House segment, and Wappoo Creek Drive/Maybank Highway intersection) to help inform design options. Check out our Maybank Highway Bike + Pedestrian Report HERE — the numbers are staggering!
On February 21, 2019, the City of Charleston invited Charleston Moves and others on a walking tour of the Maybank corridor between Woodland Shores and Wappoo Creek. Immediately following, on February 26, 2019, SCDOT convened a Safety Review of the corridor to identify short- and long-term solutions to make it safe and connected for all users, with information coming from public comments and what we witnessed on site.
On February 19, 2019, after the death of David Massie, Charleston Moves organized a community meeting to get citizen feedback on the safety improvements needed for this corridor. This happened in coordination with Charleston County and City of Charleston’s overlay zoning meetings. Requests from citizens had not changed: make the corridor safer and more connected for people walking, biking and waiting for the bus.
Project Background
In 2008, Maybank Highway was scheduled for a resurfacing by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT). Charleston Moves and others submitted design alternatives to include bike lanes and a planted median. Those suggestions were rejected by the agency, and the resurfacing went forward, as well as expanding the outer lanes to 14’ to allow bikes and motor vehicles to share the 45 mph roadway — a dangerous move that did not make the roadway any safer. Meanwhile, the corridor continued to develop as a “village center” without safe roadway improvements, with neighbors walking more to the shops and restaurants nearby.
In a Charleston County/City of Charleston 2018 survey of stakeholders during the Maybank Highway overlay zoning meetings, most respondents highlighted the need for safety and connectivity improvements for people who are walking and biking. Unsafe intersections, lack of sidewalks and bike lanes, and high speed limits were all identified as problems.