By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer

The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments is on a mission to get the Lowcountry’s present and future workforce more physically fit and to help save South Carolina $4.6 billion annually in medical care costs, workers’ compensation costs and lost productivity.

In September, the Council of Governments completed a plan for safe and convenient walking and bicycling accommodations starting with neighborhoods in Charleston, Summerville and the Goose Creek-Hanahan area and then spreading to other communities depending on the program’s success.

The Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Regional Pedestrian and Bicycle Action Plan is in the third year of a five-year, $200,000 grant from the Princeton, N.J.-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, an organization touted as the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted to improving health and health care.

The COG’s plan is one of 25 pilot programs across the nation participating in the foundation’s $16.5 million Active Living By Design initiative.

If the council’s plan produces more bicycling and walking in its three initial communities, the program will receive further foundation funding to serve other communities in the tri-county area.

“It’s part of the long-range transportation plan,” said COG planner Vonie Gilreath, referring to the council’s effort to improve by 2030 numerous Lowcountry roads by making them safer and more convenient for motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists and mass transit.

Program principles

Almost 55% of South Carolina residents are inactive or fail to meet the recommended amount of physical activity to stay healthy, making the Palmetto State one of the least physically active states in the nation, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

In addition, the obesity rate in South Carolina nearly doubled between 1990 and 2002, and the state ranks first nationally in stroke-related deaths and third in cardiovascular disease. Stroke and cardiovascular disease are associated with inactivity and obesity.

By participating in Active Living By Design, the Council of Governments hopes to turn those statistics around and has teamed with DHEC; the South Carolina Department of Transportation; Charleston Moves, a nonprofit organization promoting bicycling, walking and public transportation; the Medical University of South Carolina; The Citadel; the College of Charleston; and others to help get more tri-county area residents walking and bicycling.

The COG’s bicycle and pedestrian action plan is based on three principles: Children should be able to walk and bicycle safely to school if they and their parents choose to do so; roadways should accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists equally; and bicycling and walking should become a routine part of daily activity in the tri-county area.

The plan has three components: “Safe Routes to Schools” programs aimed at creating sidewalks, crosswalks and bicycle lanes enabling children to walk and bicycle safely to schools; “Complete Streets” programs ensuring that streets are safe for pedestrians, motorists, bicyclists and bus riders; and a “Community Intervention” initiative suggesting how communities can make road improvements, provide accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists, establish worksite wellness programs, educate residents on the importance of physical activity and develop a mass media campaign promoting walking and bicycling.

Examples of existing regional projects that have integrated pedestrian and bicycle facilities into roadway design are the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant and Daniel Island, according to the COG’s action plan.

Some neighborhoods the action plan has targeted for pedestrian, bicycle and school-route improvements include the Alston Middle School neighborhood in Summerville, Hanahan’s Forest Hills neighborhood, Maybank Highway on Johns Island and the MUSC campus.

The COG has requested bids from contractors to provide the improvements.

Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.

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