10:19 am on Friday November 21, 2008
| Posted by Ken Hawkins
Rural Johns Island faces threats from three road plans
Image by Flickr user PacDogImage by 20081121-forest.jpg The future for Johns Island?
Picturesque and large, the rural nature of Johns Island is being nipped at by a trio of road projects.
- A "Sea Island Parkway" would create an expressway to Kiawah and Seabrook islands, pulling thousands of cars from Johns Island's overloaded roads. But it would also make thousands of acres of virgin woods very tempting targets for developers.
- A proposed extension of I-526 from West Ashley through Johns Island and onto Johns Island, would greatly improve traffic conditions for those looking to go to and from West Ashley to downtown Charleston and Folly Beach. But it, too, would encourage development.
- And a battle wages over what to do about Maybank Highway and Main Road: Should they be widened in old-fashion way and risk creating another Savannah Highway or Ashley Phosphate? Or should a "network" of smaller roads be built to offer greater throughput without disrupting the existing character of the island?
- A proposed extension of I-526 from West Ashley through Johns Island and onto Johns Island, would greatly improve traffic conditions for those looking to go to and from West Ashley to downtown Charleston and Folly Beach. But it, too, would encourage development.
Want to know more? Follow the links above, or check out The Post and Courier's roundup of the current state of the three projects.
