Walking and Biking on Daniel Island and Beyond...

Lowcountry governments take steps towards regional connectivity

Daniel Island resident Richard Flood and his wife, Lynne, are avid bikers.

Together, they ride about 75 miles a week - which could include 25 miles in just one day on Daniel Island. But due to water barriers and concerns about traffic safety, to get to other areas in the region they pack the bikes in the car and drive.

To wheel around Isle of Palms, for example, they park in a Mount Pleasant shopping center and bike over from there. Sometimes they drive to the Mount Pleasant waterfront park and ride bikes over the Ravenel Bridge to the Charleston Battery and back.

But a plan unveiled last week by the Berkeley Charleston and Dorchester Council of Governments is destined to make walking and biking easier, safer and more accessible for the Floods and thousands of other Lowcountry residents.

It’s called “Walk+Bike BCD” and after 10 months of planning, research and goal-setting, the project was shared with the public on May 24 at a community gathering in North Charleston.

“I want you to know that we listened, and we made every effort to be responsive to what we heard from the residents of the region,” explained Project Manager Jean Crowther, of Alta Planning + Design, to the crowd gathered at the Felix Davis Community Center in Park Circle.

CREATING CONNECTIVITY

The project’s vision, as stated on the official plan’s opening pages, is to create “a network of infrastructure for active transportation connecting communities of all sizes across the tri-county region, so that walking and bicycling are a common part of every day life for residents and visitors alike.”

What that could mean for people like the Floods is an opportunity to walk or bike from their home community to other places in the region through seamless connectivity. For Daniel Island specifically, it might one day lead to the addition of safe, structural connections for walkers and bikers over surrounding waterways to Mount Pleasant and North Charleston.

“A connection between here and there would be neat,” said Richard, when asked if he would consider crossing the James B. Edwards Bridge over the Wando River if a safe pedestrian/biker pathway was added. “I think that would be fun to do from time to time…I can think of a lot of people who would want to use something like that.”

Gage Cooper of Daniel Island-Based Cooper River Cycles was equally encouraged by the plan’s goals.

“It would be a lot of fun to have more versatility and more options as far as riding terrain,” he said. “And options to link to other areas would be fantastic.”

“I enjoy biking and walking,” added Daniel Island resident Jen Waters, while out on a walk with her dog, Piper, last weekend. “It’s a good idea, as long as it creates a safe path.”

Laurie and Greg Boevin, who enjoyed a bike ride through Smythe Park last Sunday afternoon, couldn’t agree more.

“Absolutely!” said Laurie, when asked if she would embrace a way to connect to other communities in the region through walking or biking. “We would ride a lot more.”

“Let’s get it going!” added Greg.

And that is indeed the hope among those involved in creating the “Walk+Bike BCD” plan - to get it going, and at least push the concept of connectivity to the forefront when it comes to future planning and developments.

“We cannot get to the level of every single block and every single neighborhood,” said Crowther, in her presentation last week. “That’s not the intent of this. This is really to say as a three-county region - how can we create regional connectivity for biking and walking, and projects of regional significance, and begin to move those forward?”

In the process, Crowther and her team learned a great deal about the desires of stakeholders when it comes to being able to get where they want and need to go on foot and on bikes. By using an objective, data-driven approach, they evaluated current conditions and found a number of positives, such as a significant recent investment in new connections. But they also identified that there is a high demand for walking and biking near activity centers - and that major interstates, waterways, and multi-lane arterials are barriers. A lack of roadway connectivity, limited transit access and isolated small town and rural hubs were also noted.

But perhaps most telling is the safety data project leaders gleaned. Between 2010 and 2014, there were 990 pedestrian crashes and 739 bicycle crashes, stated their report. Those collisions resulted in 79 fatalities.

“When you create a safer space for bicycles and pedestrians, when we can make recommendations that make an unsafe intersection safe, we’re creating choice for residents,” added Crowther. “Because it’s not really a choice to choose between biking or walking if you’re risking your life to do it.”

BY THE NUMBERS

In crafting the Walk+Bike BCD plan, project leaders polled over 1000 community members across the region through an online citizen survey and gathered feedback at more than 14 public events and meetings. Close to 55 percent of respondents reported that they walk frequently (more than once a week), with 30.4 percent stating they rarely or never walk. On the biking side, 45.3 percent reported they frequently ride, and 36.5 percent said they rarely or never go out on a bike. Also of interest, those surveyed were asked how they would allocate $100 on regional transportation improvements. Respondents indicated they would spend $30 on trails and greenways, $23 on on-street bikeways, $16 on more sidewalks, $11 on widening roads, $9 on intersection improvements, $8 on expanding bus services, $3 on more highways, and $1 on carpooling/vanpooling.

“You asked for better crossings and intersections, connectivity (closing gaps), family-friendly routes, more funding for walking and biking, and a culture of respect for people on foot and bike,” stated the report. “…People who live in the BCD region care first about safety and about getting to their favorite (or more frequent) destinations.”

TAKING ACTION

The Walk+Bike plan calls for a multi-tiered approach towards creating a regional bike and trail network - which would ultimately include some 692 miles of new paved shoulder areas along roadways, 546 miles of shared use paths, 117 miles of new sidewalks, and more than 150 miles of new bicycle routes, shallows, and bike lanes.

“It’s not going to happen next week,” added Crowther. “It’s not going to happen in the next 10 years, but now you have a roadmap of what that overall connectivity can look like.”

The Daniel Island/Cainhoy area is included in the plan, and shows bike and walking connections between the island and Clements Ferry Road, all the way to Highway 41 and beyond.

“We recognize that is an isolated area and we did want to address that,” said Crowther. “We received a good bit of public input from there that reflected that - and we wanted to be responsive to the residents’ needs.”

Crowther hopes the recently released plan will provide important guidance for municipal and county planners moving forward.

“If a road is getting widened, incorporate the recommendation,” she said. “If a new development is going in and there’s an opportunity to change the roadway, go ahead and do it. This is a tool for being proactive.”

At the end of last week’s session, Crowther encouraged all citizens to stay involved in the process.

“You are the biggest asset the region has - engaged citizens and engaged stakeholders,” she told her audience. “Continue to be a voice.”

For more information on the Walk+Bike plan, visit http://walkbikebcd.weebly.com.

Want to go for a stroll?

WALKERS/RUNNERS
A Daniel Island Walk/Run Group meets in the Pierce Park Pavilion parking lot every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. for an estimated three-mile excursion. Newcomers welcome! You can also join the “Daniel Island Run and Walk Group” on Facebook to learn more about other opportunities on the island.

BIKERS
Coastal Cyclists hosts a weekly ride departing from Cooper River Cycles on Daniel Island every Sunday at 5 p.m. (during summer months) for a 10 to 12 mile ride around the island. Afterwards, bikers gather at a local eatery for food/drinks. Meeting times can vary. For more information, visit www.coastalcyclists.org, or email ride leader Karen Delcioppo at kdelrn18@gmail.com.

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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