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James Island business owners warn medians could curb customers, deliveries
Summary
Local business owners including the owner of Martin's Barbecue and a plant nursery said raised medians and restricted left turns would divert customers into neighborhoods and disrupt truck deliveries; SCDOT said it can remove median segments if evidence shows significant harm.
Business owners told the council the proposed raised medians would reduce customer access and risk sales declines. "A drop in sales of 10% or more would be devastating," said Chase Barton, owner of Martin's Barbecue Joint, describing studies and local examples where medians coincided with sudden revenue drops.
A plant nursery operator and other business representatives said tractor-trailer deliveries and turnover-dependent parking patterns would be interrupted if medians blocked direct left turns. One speaker warned, "I will lose 70% of my business" if concrete medians prevent regular customer access.
SCDOT staff acknowledged those concerns and said they have modified the original concept and would remove median blocks if the project proved overly detrimental to businesses. "If it boils down to it, and I love hearing those comments, we gotta remove that median, we'll we'll take it out," Sean Sally said. The agency also noted funding formulas favor countermeasures that score strongly on crash reduction, so tradeoffs are central to the discussion.
Why it matters: local commerce depends on roadway access; business owners pushed for alternatives such as signal timing, dedicated u-turns, or 0.75-turns that preserve access while addressing some safety problems.
