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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – Mayor William Cogswell and his staff presented the traffic and transportation committee with two designs for how the Ashley River pedestrian bridge should connect to the peninsula, each featuring a connection to the medical district, but one with more features and a higher price tag.
While work setting the scene for the Ashley River pedestrian bridge began in the fall of 2023, the official designs aren’t fully finalized.
The city originally had a plan, included in the current budget, that would have the bridge come over the slip, or merge, lane on Lockwood and connect into Bee Street and further into the medical district.
Mayor Cogswell presented another option, which he thinks will be worth its price. His idea is to build a landing pad, or pedestrian roundabout, where the bridge meets the peninsula. It would be an elevated structure that connects to Brittlebank Park, Bee Street, and offers an observation deck of the river. The plan would also create the potential to connect the landing pad to the Battery path in the future.
Initial estimates show the second design would cost an extra $5 million to build the landing pad and another $5 million more to secure a battery connection later.
Katie Zimmerman with bicycle and pedestrian advocacy group Charleston Moves has been watching this project for years.
“Gut reaction is, there’s definitely still some, some work to do. I think Chairman Seekings has put it well when he said, you know, the devil is in the details. So we saw some concepts, and I think those concepts are worth talking about and digging into some more,” Zimmerman says.
She is happy to see a connection to Bee Street in both plans, saying access to the medical district is vital. She is also concerned about the pedestrian bridge’s intersection with the slip lane, or merge lane, from the vehicle bridge onto the peninsula. The lane is particularly wide compared to others in the area, and right now that encourages speeds she and committee members agree are unsafe.
“I’d really, really like to see some particular focus on angling that slip lane, you know, the right turn lane coming off the bridge. I think there’s a lot to be done with that that could be better and make it calmer, not just for people who do biking, walking, but also for motorists,” Zimmerman says.
The project is being built from the West Ashley side over to the peninsula so the landing would be the end of the work, but construction is set to start in mid-November. City Council and SCDOT will have to approve the final designs meeting the peninsula. Mayor Cogswell shared that he plans to get more details about the price of the landing pad from the contractor, and the safety measure at the slip lame from SCDOT and bring those back to the Traffic and Transportation committee.
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