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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Officials with the city of Charleston and Charleston County have announced a plan to address traffic concerns on Johns Island.

Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said the plan is the result of collaboration between the city of Charleston and Charleston County and will tackle traffic flow problems at the intersection of Maybank Highway and River Road, portions of Maybank Highway and the northern and southern Pitchforks, Tecklenburg said.

“Traffic congestion has been a huge issue coming and going on Johns Island,” he said. “And it was accentuated when that traffic light got added down the street. And everyone came to the realization that we needed to go back and rethink what got done six or seven years ago, what’s been done since then and what can we do collectively and collaboratively to make it better and make improvements.”

The city and county laid out the main points of the plan:

“Pitchforks” means two new roads that will branch off of Maybank towards River.

“The current cost estimate sits somewhere between $25 and $30 million to do all of this,” Charleston County Councilmember Joe Boykin said.

Tecklenburg said the money will come from future sales tax and Department of Transportation funding and once permitted, will apply for federal funding.

The full construction funding will have to be identified and approved by both city and county councils, according to Tecklenburg.

The first goal for short-term, interim improvements to Maybank Highway are expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2024, Tecklenburg said.

Robby Lingenfelter who works on Johns Island said he’s hopeful about the project but still frustrated.

“They say that the northern pitchfork will be completed by the first quarter of 2024, that’s good,” he said. “Southern pitchfork they said will take years, so we’re still five to ten years from alleviating the issues we have now.”

He said the city and county have been meeting since June to address the traffic issues on Johns Island.

“It’s going to happen. We are committed to making that happen,” Tecklenburg said.

Some locals question the mayor’s timing.

“Hearing this press conference that is happening five days before an election, can’t help but notice that a lot of this was conceptual and funding for a lot of this isn’t even secured,” Logan Mcvey said. “So, this seems like more talk and a lot more traffic just sitting and waiting on stuff to happen.”

Tecklenburg’s response was that they needed enough vetting through engineers and design teams before the plans could be presented.

Charleston County Council member Jenny Huneycutt, Charleston City Council member Karl Brady and the city’s planning and traffic directors also attended the news conference.

WATCH THE CHARLESTON LEADERS ANNOUNCE THE JOHNS ISLAND TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT PLAN BELOW

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Charleston County held a public hearing Tuesday night to discuss and hear from anyone interested in the development of a large medical village on Johns Island.

The planned development, located between 4357 and 4365 Betsy Kerrison Parkway, called the Island Park Medical Village would take up more than 17 acres.

The medical village has been a topic among residents of the islands for months now with polarizing opinions supporting and against the development.

More than 30 people spoke during public comment and hundreds of letters were sent to the council in opposition.

RELATED: Neighbor worried about proposed development on Johns Island

Developers are requesting to rezone the land from low-density residential to large-scale medical office park with almost 160,000 maximum square feet of business space.

The medical village was proposed to Charleston County Planning Commission Members back on November 13 with all 7 members denying the zoning request.

Tuesday night, the questions raised included what types of medical options and concerns about traffic.

“We do agree that we need medical facilities, that we do need access,” Long-time Johns Island Resident, Tamara Butler, says. “My question is just what kinds of medical facilities are going to be there and what services are going to be provided.”

Almost 900 property owners on Kiawah Island were surveyed with 80% saying they are against the medical village and think the size of the project is too large.

“In this particular instance, the site of it, the location, the scope and the scale, feels out of character with the area of the island,” Lowcountry Land Trust President Ashley Demosthenes says.

However some community members want the development, sharing why the area needs accessible medical facilities closer to their homes.

“We lack health care. So, this project, the wellness village, actually helps alleviate a lot of that for us because now we’re going to go in a different direction,” Long-time Johns Island Resident, Jim Hart, says.

Developers say they have held meetings to hear from the community about what they want out of the project, and have reduced the project’s size by 25%.

“We care about the community. All we want to do is to provide a development that meets the needs of the people, to curtail the traffic and to allow people to have a choice,” project developer Jill Skerchek says.

With no action being taken, the developers will present the plan again in two weeks to the county council with any possible changes they make in the meantime.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

While the Mark Clark Extension project remains uncertain and mostly unfunded, multiple Johns Island road projects estimated to cost hundreds of millions continue to slowly move forward.

Some road projects have faced delays, frustrating residents of Johns Island where the population doubled from 2010 to 2020 and traffic is a large concern. One project known as the Northern Pitchfork is underway and could be finished a month earlier than expected.

“It actually might be done in January,” said Devri Detoma, Charleston County’s transportation engineering manager.

The Northern Pitchfork is a small road connection aimed at letting island-bound traffic on Maybank Highway avoid the congested intersection at River Road for those who would be turning right. The new connection would send some traffic to a new intersection on River Road above Maybank Highway.

John Zlogar, co-founder of the group Rational Roads for Johns Island, said the new connection should help at least temporarily.

“The problem is, there are going to be hundreds of new apartments right around there,” he said. “Build the roads and they will come.”

There are just two ways on and off that service Johns Island and the communities beyond — Kiawah, Seabrook and Wadmalaw islands and the town of Rockville. Traffic backups during busy times of day or whenever there’s an accident are a source of ongoing frustration on the islands.

A $2.2 billion plan to extend the Mark Clark Expressway across the island, from West Ashley to James Island, could soon move into the permitting phase. Most of the funding remains uncertain, however, and could depend on a 2024 vote on extending the countywide added sales tax.

Charleston County has been working on projects to ease the jams at Maybank Highway and River Road, and at Main Road and U.S. Highway 17 — the intersections at the two bridges crossing the Stono River. And there are plans to ease traffic and improve safety on existing roads on Johns Island.

NORTH CHARLESTON — To continue efforts to become the Coast Guard’s “operational center of gravity” on the East Coast, officials broke ground Jan. 26 on its new $160 million campus.

This 64-acre site along the Cooper River — just south of the former naval base that closed in 1996 — will house an administration building and redesigned 1,100-foot concrete pier.

Construction is expected to begin later this year and be completed in 2026.

“This Charleston campus will have improved infrastructure that translates into more productive personnel and more efficient operations,” said Capt. Neal Armstrong, the commanding officer of facilities design and construction.

The 51,500-square-foot administration building will provide training and conference room space, and additional rooms dedicated to cutter ship support.

Sustainability is a priority, so the new facility will achieve net-zero energy usage and a net-zero carbon footprint, Armstrong said.

The current Pier November will be replaced with a pier more than three feet taller to enhance durability during coastal storms. It will provide utilities to support five national security cutters and a 90-ton crane, which is critical for dockside maintenance, Armstrong said.

During the design and construction phases nearly 60 subcontractors will support the two main contractors on the project, Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and RQ Construction LLC, providing work for nearly 900 people.

Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Linda Fagan, who spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony, said every Coast Guard mission begins and ends at a shore facility. When the ships are not at sea, they need a base that can provide necessary maintenance, she added.

The missions conducted at Base Charleston are vital to protecting national security and economic prosperity, Fagan said, adding that the new campus will aid in “lifesaving work,” including patrolling the waters for smuggled narcotics.

“Indoor“Indoor or outdoor dining?” isn’t a question at Johns Island restaurant Lost Isle (3338 Maybank Highway), because all the tables are al fresco. The small white building next to the Tattooed Moose on Maybank Highway looks like it could be a family home, but behind the humble structure are sparkling chandeliers hanging from the live oaks and an expansive outdoor dining area sitting next to a wood-fired kitchen.

Restaurateur T.J. Lynch from Folly Beach bar Lowlife (106 E. Hudson Avenue) teamed up with entrepreneur Thomas Wilson and chef Josh Taylor (formerly of Root Note Food) to bring a new dining experience to Johns Island. Lynch says, “Imagine if you had roommates and one was a chef and was a bartender, and you threw a dinner party in your backyard — it’s like that.”

The focus of the menu is live fire. Taylor says he drew inspiration from cultures that use open-flame cooking like Argentina and Southeast Asia. On the menu, diners will find grilled shrimp with harissa cauliflower puree and crispy chorizo, charcoal chicken with a tamarind chili glaze and lemongrass salsa verde, and roasted carrots in a brown butter hazelnut sauce. One of the early standouts from the menu is the curry braised collards. Taylor says he was inspired by a trip to Thailand when thinking about the greens, so he created a khao soi broth to simmer the collards and added bread crumbs for texture.

“The menu goes from smaller to mid-size to larger plates to shareable plates,” says Wilson, “It is really flexible, and I suggest that tables order plates to share. Everyone will have something to choose from.”

As far as the beverages, the group says they wanted the selections to be interesting and enjoyable. “We tend to try not to take ourselves too seriously,” says Lynch, “We wanted the drinks to be tasty, fun, and accessible — not too pretentious or complex. We hope you’ll have a good time and not have to worry so much about what’s in the glass.” Lost Isle has several beers, cocktails, and wines all on tap, from the outdoor bar.

Lost Isle officially opens this evening and is open daily, from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Take a look at a sample menu here.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A new development is coming to a neighborhood right off of Maybank Highway has some neighbors talking.

As you hit Timberline Drive and Maybank Highway, it takes you directly into the new neighborhood, Maybank Village. The new development is hard to miss as it sits at the front of the community.

The groundwork for a new Spinx gas station has just begun. The project has been in the works since 2021, and members of the neighborhood say they’re not happy with the development. There is only one way into the upcoming gas station, and it requires drivers to enter the neighborhood first, then turn right to get into the station.

Residents say they don’t understand why Maybank Highway needs another gas station with several stretching across the highway already.

“Why? We don’t need a gas station here. If you go a mile down Maybank that way, there’s two gas stations. If you go down Maybank that way two miles, there’s two more gas stations. So why do you need a gas station here in the middle of Maybank that’s going to cause horrendous traffic jams,” Treasurer for the Homeowners Association Bill Antonucci said.

There are serious concerns about the bright lights and noise that might come along with the Spinx Station as well.

“This gas station is coming so close to our residential properties. These people in this house right here are going to have gas pumps and gas tanks right in their backyard. The people that are building this site, people in the city council, and the people in the zoning departments don’t seem to care. We’ve had people write to them and nobody seems to care. Nobody is responding,” Antonucci said.

Despite the frustration from members of the community, the City of Charleston is allowed to do this based on zoning regulations.

“The business in question is being built under the site’s base zoning, which is a property right protected by state law,” a city spokesperson said in a statement. “That’s why the city strongly supports a comprehensive, all-of-the-above traffic-relief strategy for Johns Island, including the widening of Maybank Highway, the construction of both the northern and southern pitchforks and the completion of I-526. The city will continue to work closely with our state and county partners until Johns Island residents see real traffic relief as a result of these and other critical roadroads projects.”

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