CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) – Community members with one group gathered Monday to discuss the future of the Transportation Sales Tax Referendum project.
Around 15 people with Citizens for Safe Roads protested outside, trying to spread their message of voting “no.”
If this is passed on the November ballot, there will be one-half of one percent sales and use tax dedicated to the funding for this project.
The project’s priority is the Mark Clark Extension, or I-526, but there are other projects that cover surrounding areas throughout the county, such as Rivers Avenue, Bicycle pedestrian improvements, parts of Highway 17 and CARTA transportation.
One gentleman disagrees with moving forward with this for safety reasons.
“Look at 526, the backups are an hour, hour and a half, in the morning, in the afternoon… Every day of our lives. I-526 has not been a fix for safety. If they’re gonna press for safety, they got to examine how unsafe 526 is,” Mount Pleasant resident David Quick said.
Nay-sayers and yay-sayers were from different parts of Charleston including West Ashley, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant and Johns Island.
“We’ve had two previous taxes, the county has failed to use those in the ways the voters have prescribed. And we don’t need to continue this bad act,” Glenda Miller, who opposes this referendum, said.
Miller and Quick, along with other community members lined up the road with their “vote no” signs.
Former North Charleston mayor, Keith Summey, also attended the meeting to share his thoughts.
“And our roads are not safe, we have to make sure we offer the best quality of life we can to the next generation. I’m 77 years old so by the time these roads are completed, I might not even be here,” Summey said.
Summey said he is for the referendum and supports the movement.
If the referendum gets the green light, the county will have 25 years to complete the projects with a budget of $5.4 billion.
One community member and small-business owner, says it won’t only expand roadways to help with traffic.
“I’m also a strong supporter of natural resources. The Charleston you see today will not be what you see in the future. And if you don’t invest now, these greenspaces won’t be here to invest in later,” community member John Griffiths said.
He said this won’t help with traffic and it will only hurt the environment with microplastics from tires and air pollution from cars.
“That’s going to end up being a pollution generation for years. And you’re going to affect the runoff, so you’re going to affect the groundwater that comes into, the organisms that live on it, and it’s just going to result to permanent changes to the ecosystem that we don’t need right now,” said Phillip Dustan, who is against the referendum.
Community members will vote on this referendum on Nov. 5.
You can find out more details about the referendum here.
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