Mt. Pleasant interchange improvements may benefit DI commuters

The commute time to and from Daniel Island is solely impacted by the traffic buildup along I-526. The major thoroughfare may become less congested in the years to come pending the improvements of the Long Point Road interchange near the Wando Terminal in Mount Pleasant.

 

On Aug. 2, South Carolina Department of Transportation personnel held a public information meeting at the R.L. Jones Center in Mount Pleasant to discuss a component of the Lowcountry Corridor East project. Although the unfunded $2-$4 billion, four-lane widening on I-526 isn’t slated to take place for another 10 years from now, the $165 million construction on the Long Point Road interchange is funded and is expected to begin by the spring or summer of 2024.

 

SCDOT deems the current Long Point Road and I-526 interchange configuration is deficient because it does not have the capacity to accommodate the forecasted 2050 traffic as outlined in the Planning and Environmental Linkages Study that was updated in July. The following modifications are recommended to accommodate future traffic demand:

 

• An additional lane along the I-526 westbound on-ramp from Long Point Road.

 

• An additional lane along the I-526 eastbound off-ramp to Long Point Road.

 

• An additional left-turn lane along the I-526 eastbound off-ramp approach of the intersection of Long Point Road and I-526 eastbound off-ramp.

 

• An additional northeast through-lane along Long Point Road beginning as a receiving lane for the left turns from the I-526 eastbound off-ramp and continuing towards the intersection with the I-526 westbound on-ramp.

 

Two of the four proposed alternatives include new ramps from the Wando Terminal that would connect to the truck climbing lanes on the Wando River Bridge. This bypass is expected to greatly improve the commuter flow of traffic all the way from Long Point Road to Daniel Island. 

 

“If we were able to do that it will provide some significant congestion relief in that immediate area and probably would be a benefit to Daniel Island,” said I-526 Lowcountry Corridor Project Director Joy Riley. 

 

Riley noted that the only other changes impacting the Wando River Bridge would be restriping to connect to the truck climbing lines. SCDOT did perform a safety analysis several years ago for the existing truck climbing lanes on the Don Holt and Wando Bridges and concluded that it was safer to leave the existing truck climbing lanes in operation rather than closing them to decrease the number of accidents. The average daily traffic from Daniel Island to Long Point Road was approximately 78,000 motorists in 2017, according to SCDOT. If there was no build out or mitigation by 2050, a projected 131,000 motorists would frequent the same stretch of road daily – a 69% growth rate. 

 

SCDOT will present their preferred solution at a public hearing before the end of this year in order to get environmental approval in early 2023. The project’s NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) compliance is estimated to take up to 12 months and the design and construction is estimated to take up to 32 months. 

 

SCDOT is accepting online public comments at 526CCLongPoint.com until Sept. 1. To view the latest I-526 Lowcountry Corridor East PEL Study, visit 526lowcountrycorridor.com/east/pel/.