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JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – Some Johns Island neighbors like the new traffic light, and some say it’s causing traffic issues on the island, but city officials say they’re working to make sure this new light doesn’t become a problem for drivers moving forward.

The new traffic light at the intersection of Maybank Highway and Fenwick Hall Allee is causing quite a controversy amongst Johns Island neighbors. Some are appreciative of the addition.

“This light I feel like it does help a lot,” Johns Island resident Liz Jannetta said, “especially for this community.”

Some believe it’s the cause of increased commute times across the island.

“Little bit of a negative coming back because it starts to bottleneck,” Johns Island resident Marek Pawulski said. “People coming onto Johns Island and leaving Johns Island.”

But Charleston City officials say because the new light has only been in operation for a week, no one can definitely say it’s the reason for the congestion.

“I would say it’s speculation,” Robert Somerville, director of traffic and transportation for the City of Charleston, said. “We really need to get some data collected.”

Somerville says Charleston County has already begun the process of gathering that data.

“They have counters placed on Maybank so we can look at the volumes,” he said, “and compare it to pre-installation of the signal to the volumes that we’re seeing now.”

With more than 80 accidents at the intersection, including multiple fatalities, neighbors in the Fenwick Plantation subdivision would like others to see why this new light is needed.

“I have three teenage kids,” Jannetta said, “two who both drive now and putting them, before this light came, having them make lefts out of this neighborhood it was gut-wrenching. I don’t even know what else to say.”

And though some people see the new light as a main cause for backups on the island, they understand it was installed for everyone’s safety.

“If this light came in for the purpose to prevent accidents and save lives then I think it’s a good thing,” Pawulski said. “But like you said, I think they need to set up the timing a little bit better so it doesn’t bottle up towards Headquarters or way past River Road.”

Charleston City officials say they will continue working on the timing of the light, and they’re urging all drivers to be patient during that process.

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JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A new traffic light on Johns Island has caused a stir for people who live and drive through the area.

The light, located at Maybank Highway and Fenwick Hall Allee, was installed Tuesday. After just one day, officials with the City of Charleston have received calls from people who drive through the area frustrated that traffic on Maybank Highway has gotten even worse.

“They’ve been steady coming from us. As well, they’ve been going to the DOT, and Charleston County as well,” Robert Somerville, director of the City of Charleston’s department of traffic and transportation said. “We are aware and we’re working on it. We just ask for your patience and we will get it figured out.”

This signal was part of the Northern Pitchfork project. Somerville said with concerns about safety involving drivers exiting out of Fenwick Hall Allee they decided to install a temporary signal before the mast arms were ready to be completed.

Since activating the signal Tuesday, Somerville said they found there is a problem within the corridor that affects the timing from Headquarters Plantation to River Road. They’ve had technicians from the city and DOT at the location to try to get the issue figured out.

“This is a safety project,” Somerville said. “We’ve had numerous accidents at that intersection so I believe this signal will be the best thing for Maybank Highway and Fenwick Allee in the long run.”

For Dan Kinne, who lives near the traffic light, the new signal is allowing him to breathe a little easier.

“You used to take your life in your hands when you were coming out of there and turning left onto Maybank or coming home on Maybank turning left onto Fenwick Hall,” Kinne said. “I’m lucky we never got hit.”

People have taken to social media to complain about an increase in traffic on Maybank Highway.

Katelyn Robinson commutes to Johns Island every day to take her daughter to school. She said it takes her 10 minutes to take her daughter to school, but an hour to get home.

“It’s affecting everybody’s sanity and their drive to work in the morning,” Robinson said. “They have a livelihood they have to keep up, they have jobs they have to get to, kids they have to drop off, things they have to do in the morning.”

Somerville said the permanent signal will be ready to be installed in about a year. For now, he is asking for patience.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – A new traffic light at the intersection of Maybank Highway and Fenwick Hall Allee has caused quite a stir amongst neighbors on Johns Island.

Some people like the addition of the light, but some wish it was never put here in the first place.

“That stop light is going to save lives,” said Johns Island resident Wayne Morris, while acknowledging that “it might be an inconvenience for some folks.”

Morris has lived in the Twelve Oaks Community on Fenwick Hall Allee for the last two years. He says the new light is needed because, without it, it’s nearly impossible, and extremely dangerous, to turn onto Maybank Highway.

“I don’t know whether people know this- there’s been five deaths out there, and numerous accidents, said Morris.

Other residents living in the Twelve Oaks Community like the new traffic light as well.

“Before I would just probably take a right,” Ryan Tomlinson said. “Go up River and go around up Savannah Highway rather than try to take a left out of here. So, it’s a lot better now.”

However, many neighbors who don’t live in the Fenwick Plantation subdivision have a different opinion.

Andrew Trego, who grew up on Johns Island, said the light is “causing a lot of mayhem on the road.” He went on to say, “Johns Island is just not what it used to be.”

Trego says the new light, along with several new developments popping up, is the reason for much of the congestion across the island.

“It’s not helpful for the roads around here,” Trego said. “It’s not helpful for our culture. This is a quaint community; now it’s not, and we just don’t like it.”

Trego says he would like to see some changes to alleviate the congestion made soon.

“The city really needs to do something about it,” he said. “We as a community need to stand up and tell the city what we think and how we feel.”

Now, neighbors who support the new traffic light are asking those who are against it to take into account how they feel as well.

“How would you like one of your children or one of your loved ones to be one of those five?” Morris said. “And is it not worth the safety of your family, yourself to put up with an inconvenience of a small stop light?”

The new traffic light on Maybank Highway started operating at the beginning of April.

The South Carolina Environmental Law Project is urging people to request a public hearing for a potential bridge to be built over Pennys Creek.

Published: Tue Mar 07 2023

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The South Carolina Environmental Law Project is urging people to request a public hearing for a potential bridge to be built over Pennys Creek.

Pennys Creek separates a portion of land from Johns Island between the creek and the Stono River. The two-lane bridge would be 33-feet-wide by 570-feet-long.

Conservationists say that kind of construction work would affect the water quality and health of the salt marsh ecosystem. Betsy LaForce is with the Coastal Conservation League.

“We’re thinking about- runoff from cars and stormwater runoff that would go right into the marsh, but also just some of the shading and then the impacts from the piling,” she says.

The applicant is Mike Blanchard of Charles Blanchard Construction Corporation. The proposed name for the bridge is the Blanchard Family Bridge. The application is to build at Fenwick Plantation Road and St. Paul’s Parish Lane. That intersection sits inside a quiet Johns Island neighborhood. According to DHEC’s public notice, the purpose is to provide car access to private property where “access to public roadways is otherwise infeasible.”

South Carolina Environmental Law Project is concerned that the bridge will impact the estuarine ecosystem including some marsh habitat. The organization is also submitting a letter on behalf of the Coastal Conservation League. While the private bridge would access private property, the project argues that the negative impacts to the public waterway and ecosystem held entrust by the state are not worth it.

LaForce says there are a lot of questions about this bridge.

“There are kind of more questions than answers that have been provided in the application in the letter of intent as to why the applicant really needs this bridge to this island that’s already been under the same ownership for quite a long time and access via a separate bridge hasn’t been needed to date,” LaForce says. “So that’s part of the reason why this public hearing will be so important…to ask them to ask the applicant to provide a little bit more background on why this access is needed to the tip of this marsh island.”

The letter argues that there already is access to the land via Rushland Road. “The applicant does not appear to have detailed why this is an infeasible route for access” and that “their proposed access is not a necessity,” according to the letter. The applicant says he has been denied access through that avenue.

In a statement, the applicant explains his family has owned the land since the 40′s and sold off most of it reserving six remaining acres for their grandchildren to use. He says there used to be more bridges and causeways that fell into disrepair and have not been replaced. He says they have secured a permit in the past, but let it expire before being able to build.

Part of the statement reads:

“This property is landlocked and the only available access is by a bridge. We tried for 50 years to get access through the neighboring land between our property and Rushland Landing Road to no avail. We have met all of the regulations and were granted a bridge permit 3 times. If we can’t build a bridge, we cannot access our land.”

LaForce says they are also worried about development pressure.

“Some of the infrastructure that’s being proposed for such a sensitive ecosystem…so on our Sea Islands, we want to be really cognizant of these piecemeal kind of applications that are being considered whether it’s for new roadways, new bridges, and sort of the cumulative impacts that each of those individual budgets has on the bigger picture,” LaForce.

South Carolina Environmental Law Project urges people to submit a request for a public hearing to learn more about the reason for the bridge and potential impact to the environment. Neighbors say they are confident they will meet the 20-request requirement for a public hearing.

Public comments end on March 8th. For more information, click here.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The South Carolina Office of Resilience has announced they will be giving several million dollars to the City of Charleston to improve drainage on Johns Island.

Published: Mon Mar 20 2023

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The South Carolina Office of Resilience has announced they will be giving several million dollars to the City of Charleston to improve drainage issues affecting around 500 acres of Johns Island.

Stormwater Management Director Matthew Fountain said Monday the city is trying to build a naturalized area and a new stream near the homes of the Barberry Woods neighborhood off Maybank Highway to reduce flooding.

“Getting this grant in helps close the funding gap,” Fountain said. “We’ve seen some huge cost increases over the last three to four years as everybody knows in construction, especially.”

Fountain said the $4.6 million grant from the state will cover about half of the project’s $10 million price tag. He added the city has invested a couple million dollars alone buying up nearby vacant properties.

Neighbors also shared videos of how extreme the flooding was during Hurricane Ian in Barberry Woods, with one neighbor who could be seen taking his children on a kayak ride along the street.

Fountain said the state’s grant money will help cover some of the construction costs, including tree clearing, digging out soil and reshaping the land. The project also calls for a 20-to-25-acre area complete with walking trails.

“The water can basically act like in a natural wetland system over the top of the stream banks and hold in the wetland areas instead of being in people’s roads and streets,” Fountain said.

A few years ago, the city, in conjunction with the Dutch embassy, brought over experts from the Netherlands, Europe and across the country to recommend ways to address flooding. Fountain said this project was one of those recommendations.

“How do you restore the ability of the land to handle the water like it used before you basically did all this development in the area,” Fountain said. “This project is directly looking at how do we take land that could be developed into something – commercial or homes – and basically convert it back into wetlands and streams like it would have been hundreds of years ago potentially to help manage the flooding challenges that are currently affecting the developed properties around it.”

Neighbors like Brian Mack said they are glad a potential solution is underway.

“We get a lot of the drainage from neighborhoods up the road, and it tends to pool down here in the middle of the road and come out toward our house and the back of the neighborhood,” Mack said.

Mack said his neighbors have to prepare in case of heavy rain, so they’re not stuck.

“Some cars have to park in the front and either walk barefoot through or put galoshes on just to get to their homes,” Mack said.

Fountain said he expects to receive these state funds in the next month or so, and they’re on track to start construction in about a year to a year and a half.

“It’ll take a little bit of time, but upon completion of the project, one of the advantages of something like this is you’ll see immediate improvements,” Fountain said.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.