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Charleston County to raise Central Park Road, replace culverts and close stretch for months; detours planned
Summary
Charleston County officials said a Central Park Road project will raise the roadway two feet, install three 48-inch culverts and tide-control gates to reduce king-tide flooding; work requires a closure from Riverland Drive to Fleming Road with local access maintained and detours routed to Maybank Highway.
Charleston County Public Works on May 22 described a Central Park Road drainage and road-raising project that county staff said will reduce frequent tidal flooding and improve resilience for James Island Creek.
County project manager John Proruck told the steering committee the work will raise the roadway roughly two feet and replace the existing culverts — currently one 48-inch and one 24-inch — with three 48-inch culverts. The project will also add tide controls: two muted tide gates and an in-line check valve designed to remain open most of the time and close only during high tides to free upstream storage, Proruck said.
Because the work includes large excavation and structure replacement at the creek crossing, the county plans a full closure of Central Park Road between Riverland Drive and Fleming Road for much of the summer and early fall. Proruck said the closure is expected to continue through October; normal business-hour construction (7 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday–Friday) is planned and the contractor will maintain driveway access for residents within the closure limits.
The county described detour routing intended to keep traffic on major roads and off neighborhood streets. Westbound drivers approaching the closure will be signed to use Fleming Road to Maybank Highway; northbound Riverland drivers will be directed to Maybank Highway. County staff said they will place message boards at least a week in advance and will coordinate with Charleston Police and municipal partners on detour signage. Proruck said the project will also preserve upstream saltmarsh and large trees by using tide-control devices rather than completely blocking tidal exchange.
Why it matters: Proruck said Central Park Road has experienced “sunny-day” tidal flooding that has led to 24 officially reported road closures in the last five years, according to 9-1-1 records. County officials said improvements will reduce those closures, improve emergency access and enable downstream and upstream basin projects to function better.
The county will post updates and a QR sign-up for alerts; Proruck asked attendees to sign up for project notifications. He noted the project connects to other planned drainage work in the basin and that the county will coordinate signal timing and communications with nearby jurisdictions to reduce traffic impacts to Folly Road.
Residents and committee members asked for advance message boards on Folly Road to discourage turns onto Central Park Road once the closure is in place. Proruck said he would work with the contractor and communications staff to add pre-turn signing on Folly Road so drivers do not reach Central Park only to be detoured onto Maybank Highway.
