Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment Transportation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public commenters press for bridge fix, bike-ped funding and easements on Highway 170
Summary
Public commenters urged the committee to prioritize bridge capacity and safety, include previously earmarked bicycle/pedestrian funding, and add easement money for Highway 170; staff said it will evaluate feasibility and provide cost estimates for committee consideration.
Public commenters at the Feb. 18 meeting pressed the Transportation Advisory Committee to address immediate safety and multimodal needs, urging the county to factor bridge capacity, bicycle and pedestrian funding, and easements into the upcoming transportation referendum.
Stu Rodman, introduced at the meeting as the first speaker in public comment, said the bridal corridor bridges are approaching the end of their useful life and warned that weight restrictions or closures were possible. Rodman urged the committee and engineers to evaluate widening the planned eastbound bridge now so it could carry future westbound capacity as well: "So why not add 2 additional 12-foot lanes to make it a little bit wider?" he said (Stu Rodman).
Ray Chipolini told the committee that $55,000,000 had been earmarked in the 2024 referendum for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and urged adherence to the Complete Streets policy, as adopted by the state in 2021, when drafting project lists for any new referendum. "That policy requires the SCDOT to work with regional partners to identify walking, bicycling and transit needs," Chipolini said (Ray Chipolini).
Dave Kimball of Sun City recommended adding $15,000,000 to the referendum to purchase easements along Highway 170 from Boundary Street to U.S. 278, an element he said would support a future spine route tying into regional trails and the East Coast Greenway. "Consider adding $15,000,000 to the referendum to fund the expense of gaining easements along Highway 170," Kimball said (Dave Kimball).
Staff response and actions
County engineering director Brian Bauer acknowledged the comments and said staff will provide feasibility assessments and updated cost estimates for consideration. Bauer noted the county maintains many studies and will give the committee a Dropbox of reference documents, including corridor and safety studies, and that staff can prepare targeted costings for projects the committee wants to prioritize.
Context and next steps
Speakers framed their requests as both safety and multimodal-access priorities: Rodman stressed workforce access and long-term capacity for island bridges; Chipolini focused on committing previously earmarked bicycle/ped funds and following Complete Streets guidance; Kimball pushed for upfront easement funding to enable planned trail connections. Staff agreed to evaluate the technical and fiscal feasibility and return to the committee with specifics for inclusion in the project list and estimates.
The committee will consider staff recommendations at upcoming meetings and directed staff to supply concise, project-level estimates and maps to aid the committee's decisions.
