About
Charleston County welcomes you to the online public information meeting for Segment A: US 17 & Main Road Intersection and Main Road Improvements from Bees Ferry Road to River Road/Chisolm Road. The purpose of this meeting is to present the recommended preferred alternative for this project. We invite you to review the process of how the County narrowed down the design alternatives, and provide your feedback. The project team will use your comments to help shape the future of this important project. The public comment period has closed.
How did the County select the recommended preferred alternative?
Each design alternative went through a multi-tier screening process to evaluate estimated impacts and determine how it met the project’s purpose and need. The final step in the screening process evaluated:
- impacts to environmental resources such as streams and wetlands
- ability to perform with anticipated future traffic volumes
- potential property relocation impacts for both residential and commercial properties
- overall project cost
What is the recommended preferred alternative?
Charleston County proposes to move forward with Alternative 5A at US 17 and Main Road, and Alternative E2 at Main Road and River Road/Chisolm Road. Alternatives 5A and E2 performed the best overall at relieving traffic congestion, had the least overall environmental impacts, and had among the fewest relocations of all alternatives considered. Additionally, Alternative E2 had the lowest estimated cost to construct.
What Happens Next?
Once the public comment period has ended, the design team will continue to develop and refine the preferred alternative. This will help define the exact impacts the design will have on the environment and existing properties. Once this process is complete, the County will submit a permit application for impacts to Waters of the U.S. (wetlands and streams) to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). USACE will ultimately permit the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative (LEDPA). USACE must agree that the County’s recommended preferred alternative is the LEDPA before issuing the required permits. Once the County has received all required permits, and all necessary rights-of-way have been acquired, the project can proceed to construction.
