Mount Pleasant residents turn out to object to plans for Interstate 526 at Long Point Road

MOUNT PLEASANT — The S.C. Department of Transportation has been seeking public comments about plans to remake the Interstate 526 interchange at Long Point Road, and on Sept. 6 they got an earful.

More than 100 people who live in subdivisions near the interchange — Tidal Walk, Grassy Creek, Belle Hall Plantation and others — turned out for a Town Council committee meeting where DOT project manager Joy Riley was going to speak about the road plan.

And together they stood, when asked by Daniel Senden to show how many of those in the audience opposed the DOT’s leading plans.

Senden, who lives in the Grassy Creek subdivision just north of the interstate highway, said a new mini-interchange the DOT has proposed to serve port-related truck traffic is a terrible idea.

“An elevated bridge in this location will create real and lasting harm to our residents,” he said. 

With a 2.5-minute time limit on public comments, Senden and other residents took a tag-team approach to reading through a four-page statement and list of concerns.

Riley, with DOT, said such public feedback is just what the agency wants.

“You guys engaging in the process is a good thing,” she said, later adding that “We’re not going to make everybody happy.”

The plans at issue can be seen in detail at 526lcclongpoint.com and were shown to a crowd of hundreds on Aug. 2. The road work is part of a potentially $4 billion plan to widen I-526, also known as the Mark Clark Expressway, from Mount Pleasant to North Charleston.

The I-526/Long Point Road interchange is getting extra early attention because that’s the connection that serves the busiest ocean port in South Carolina, the Wando Welch Terminal at the end of Long Point Road.

Those ships bring shipping containers which are moved by truck. More than 112,000 trucks arrived at the terminal gate in June, the State Ports Authority reported.

The truck traffic regularly backs up on the interstate awaiting a chance to exit at Long Point Road. Even without the trucks, traffic passing through that interchange is expected to greatly increase by 2050 according to DOT.

In response, DOT has been reviewing several potential plans and a leading option calls for an additional road path from the interstate to and from the port. It would involve demolishing some homes and businesses, and building an elevated ramp to the highway close to residential communities.

“What’s being proposed is not acceptable at this time,” said Belle Hall resident Pete Taylor.

One of the leading options for addressing port-related traffic on Interstate 526 in Mount Pleasant, Alternative 2, would impact homes in the Tidal Walk subdivision and businesses along Wando Park Boulevard. S.C. Department of Transportation/Provided

In addition to concerns about the potential elevated truck ramps to a new partial highway interchange, residents of Belle Hall and neighboring subdivisions are concerned that work on the existing interchange is expected to eliminate left-hand turns from Long Point Road to Belle Hall Parkway, where a Waffle House restaurant is located.

That might sound like a small thing, but that’s the main way in to subdivisions that are home to thousands. The next option is to use nearby Belle Pointe Drive, which is sometimes jammed with cars waiting to get in to the Chick-fil-A drive-thru there.

Belle Hall resident Laura Diehl called the idea “mind-boggling.”

Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie and members of the transportation committee listen to public comments about a reworking of the I-526 interchange at Long Point Road at a committee meeting in Mount Pleasant on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. Henry Taylor/Staff

By Henry Taylor htaylor@postandcourier.com

Riley said it’s crucial that the interstate highway can safely serve its purpose, and that left-turn at Bell Hall Parkway conflicts with highway standards. She also hinted that exceptions are possible.

“At the end of the day the interstate system is the lifeline for this area … and we need to see that it functions,” Riley said. “As congestion increases, your crashes will increase, and there will be more serious-injury and fatal crashes.”

Mount Pleasant is not in charge of the project, a fact Mayor Will Haynie and other Town Council members were quick to stress. But Haynie said the town wants to be involved as DOT makes decisions. 

The public comment period on the different options being considered ended on Sept. 1, but Riley encouraged people to share their opinions and assured that they would be considered. Comments can be submitted online and the phone number to talk with a project team member is 843-258-1135.

Next year, DOT is expected to settle on a “preferred alternative” and hold another public meeting laying out that plan.

Reach David Slade at 843-937-5552. Follow him on Twitter @DSladeNews.