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Johnnie Dodds plan has one flyover, major reconstruction
By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer
After two years of debating whether multiple flyovers, or overpasses, would improve traffic flow along Mount Pleasant’s Johnnie Dodds Boulevard, Mount Pleasant Town Council has approved a design for the busy street that will feature only one flyover instead of the six the town council initially considered.
The single flyover will be at the Bowman Road-Johnnie Dodds intersection near Interstate 526.
The East Cooper Planning Council, a citizens group comprised of residents and business people from Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Daniel Island and Cainhoy, announced the decision during a June 8 press conference.
The planning council had suggested that roundabouts, rather then flyovers, be built at key intersections along the four-mile stretch of Johnnie Dodds from Houston Northcutt Boulevard to Bowman Road.
East Cooper residents surveyed at a public meeting a year ago preferred roundabouts to flyovers. Residents also requested an aesthetically appealing design that would take into account pedestrians and bicyclists.
While the town council voted to reduce the number of flyovers, it also voted not to convert the intersections to roundabouts.
“The issue has never been roundabouts versus flyovers,” said planning council member Tony Woody, a partner at Mount Pleasant civil engineering company Thomas & Hutton. “Residents came out in the hundreds to support a roadway that accommodates cars, cyclists and pedestrians.
“By keeping intersections at-grade and supporting the boulevard, the town just ensured that this area of Mount Pleasant will be livable, even enjoyable, for years to come,” Woody continued.
The redesign of Johnnie Dodds calls for a multilane boulevard incorporating the frontage roads, and including a wide median for pedestrians and bicyclists, plus sidewalks and thru-traffic lanes.
This would turn Johnnie Dodds into more of a “main street,” Woody pointed out.
Such a design will make Johnnie Dodds “functional and beautiful,” enhancing the town’s quality of life and attracting businesses, Woody said.
Charleston County has earmarked $70 million for the project. The funds will come from the county’s half-cent sales tax.
The plan’s specifics have yet to be worked out. That job will be left to Charleston County Council. As yet, there is no timeline for the project.
Last year, the East Cooper Planning Council commissioned Dover, Kohl & Partners, a town-planning firm based in Coral Gables, Fla., to analyze the relationships among transportation, land use and economic development in Mount Pleasant. East Cooper businesses funded the $200,000 study.
The re-design of Johnnie Dodds Boulevard reflects Mount Pleasant’s growth. Between 1990 and 2004, the town’s population has increased from about 30,100 to more than 62,600.
Traffic congestion has accompanied that population growth.
U.S. Highway 17 North, of which Johnnie Dodds Boulevard is a part, daily handles about 40,000 cars in Mount Pleasant. In 15 years that figure is projected to reach between 60,000 and 70,000 cars.
Michelle Sinkler, the planning council’s executive director, applauded the town’s approval of a plan focusing less on flyovers as a means to alleviate Johnnie Dodds traffic troubles and more on physical appeal than overall functionality.
“The town has listened to its residents and seized the opportunity to transform this corridor into an extraordinary place, and for that we are grateful,” she said.
Although a definite new design for Johnnie Dodds has yet to be chosen, the new plan will have to include “back alley roadways and newly configured frontage roads” to improve connectivity between Johnnie Dodds, Coleman Boulevard and Mathis Ferry Road to further alleviate traffic, Sinkler added.
Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.
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