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Palmetto Commerce Parkway seen as great north area connector
By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer
It is a $29 million project that could help alleviate traffic congestion along Ashley Phosphate Road while attracting more business to Palmetto Commerce Park in Ladson and the north area in general.
That is how Dan Moses, preconstruction director for Charleston County RoadWise, describes the nearly six-mile Palmetto Commerce Parkway construction project linking Ladson Road to Ashley Phosphate Road.
RoadWise manages the county’s transportation improvements funded by the half-cent sales tax, which is paying for the parkway project.
The effort consists of two phases. The first phase, completed in July and conducted by North Charleston-based general contractor Banks Construction Co., involved widening from two lanes to four the existing 11⁄2-mile parkway in Palmetto Commerce Park, a 1,120-acre industrial tract off Ladson Road, and extending the parkway another 1,500 feet to the park’s DaimlerChrysler facility, Moses explained.
That phase cost a little more than $3 million, according to Moses.
The second phase, which is in the design stage, involves extending the parkway from Palmetto Commerce Park to Ashley Phosphate Road. The extension will cover about three miles and consist of four lanes and a landscaped median, Moses said.
Construction for the second phase could begin in 2009 or 2010 and be completed by 2012, Moses said. General contractor bidding has yet to begin.
The design challenges include negotiating the Norfolk Southern railroad line, wetlands, a landfill, existing utilities such as water and sewer lines and residential neighborhoods such as Pepperhill, located near Ashley Phosphate Road, Moses said. In addition, environmental impacts need to be studied and construction permits applied for and secured.
West Ashley-based landscape architecture firm HLA Inc. and Columbia-based Dennis Corp., which specializes in civil and transportation engineering, are consultants for the second phase.
When completed, the entire parkway will be a multi-modal thoroughfare, meaning it will include bicycle and pedestrian pathways in addition to four automobile lanes.
It is part of the “Complete Streets” program, an initiative involving Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties to make the Lowcountry’s streets safe for bicyclists, pedestrians, motorists and bus riders.
Palmetto Commerce Parkway’s second phase will network with other North Charleston road projects. Wescott Boulevard will extend from Dorchester Road to the parkway.
Lincoln Boulevard will be extended from Ashley Phosphate Road to Wescott Boulevard. These road extensions will help alleviate traffic along Dorchester and Ashley Phosphate roads, according to Charleston County’s Proposed Comprehensive Transportation Plan.
Palmetto Commerce Park is already home to DaimlerChrysler, American LaFrance, Cummins Turbo Technologies, Shimano American Corp., MTU Drive Shafts and a few other manufacturers.
When the parkway is completed, its increased width and Ladson-North Charleston connection will be an “economic development engine,” attracting more companies to and near the industrial park, Moses said.
“It’s a huge deal,” Moses said of the Palmetto Parkway project. “It provides more than just roads. It provides a nice connectivity.”
Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.
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