Safety Action Planning in Charleston

[January 29, 2025]

South Carolina, and the Charleston region in particular, consistently ranks as one of the most dangerous places in the nation for people on bicycles, foot, and in motor vehicles, based on crash rates. The most vulnerable travelers among us are those who are bicycling or walking, with and without assistive devices. And in South Carolina, Black and senior communities experience a disproportionate impact.

Over the past few years, the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has created a Complete Streets Departmental Directive and a statewide Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan. Charleston Moves participated in the development of both documents. SCDOT has been conducting Road Safety Audits along corridors throughout the state with the highest crash rates, and has proposed safety improvements to address some of the collision hotspots. Many of you are familiar with the results of audits along King Street, Meeting Street, Calhoun Street, St. Philip Street, the Septima P. Clark Parkway, and Folly Road in Charleston, as well as Ashley Phosphate Road and Dorchester Road in North Charleston. Public meetings are pending for the audits of portions of Ashley River Road/Highway 61 and Savannah Highway, and more audits are being scheduled.

Through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), USDOT has set up a discretionary grant program called Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) for municipalities and planning organizations. There are planning/demonstration grants and implementation grants. In order to qualify for implementation grants, an applicant must have a comprehensive safety action plan in place. The Town of Mount Pleasant developed their plan already, and then successfully applied for implementation funding in 2023. The City of Folly Beach is completing their plan now. The City of North Charleston will likely begin working on their plan later this year, after being granted federal funding in 2024 (watch Mayor Burgess’ 2025 State of the City Address which mentions the plan HERE).

The City of Charleston and the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG) have started their planning processes. They are currently reviewing crash and collision data, and we have provided your relevant Close Calls entries as well.

What does this all mean for you? The entities working on plans will seek your input soon: your experiences, your ideas, your concerns. We know you all have a certain intersection, crossing, or other location in mind that is in dire need of change …. in fact, you probably have many locations in mind! There are systems and policy changes needed as well. One suggestion we’ve heard repeatedly is adding Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS), designed to alert visually impaired people when it is safe to cross the street, often using a sound similar to a bird chirp.

Please get ready to participate in these planning processes. Your individual experiences will shape these plans into more proactive and responsive efforts from our local agencies. Our region needs to focus on safety over speed in our roadway designs. We’re also hoping the completed plans can help guide future decisions, such as transportation sales tax referendum priorities. We will let you know as opportunities arise to weigh in and spread the word.

Image credit: National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB)