Mount Pleasant Magazine 6.3

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According to Summey, if the
half-cent sales tax is on the ballot in
November and voters give it the thumbs
up, it will bring in $1.5 billion over the
next quarter century. He said some of
that money would be dedicated to green
space and mass transit but that most of
it would go for roads in Mount Pleasant,
Charleston and North Charleston.
“We have a laundry list of projects
we want to fund, but we need to be
specific and list the projects we’re
going to be completing. If we ask the
voters to pass the sales tax, they need to
know what they are getting,” Summey
commented.
Summey said the sales tax option
would be the fairest way to raise money
for road work because renters and
visitors would help property owners pay
for the improvements.
“Thirty-five percent of the money
would be generated by tourists,” he
added. “We wouldn’t be putting all the
burden on ourselves.”
Summey said Highway 41 should have
been widened “seven or eight years ago.”
“We can’t point fingers. That gets
you nowhere,” he said. “We need to
identify the problem and determine
how do we get to a solution.”
The town of Mount Pleasant already
has put $1.15 million into the project,
and the town’s fiscal 2017 budget calls
for another $500,000 to be dedicated
to the Highway 41 project. Charleston
County has contributed $1.2 million,
and another $2 million in federal funds
will arrive in 2018.
The town will start on interim
improvements “that will help some” in
about four months, according to Mount
Pleasant Mayor Linda Page. Turn lanes
will be added at Joe Rouse Road, at a
cost of approximately $750,000.
The 2014 South Carolina
Department of Transportation
Advanced Project Planning Report
predicted that by the year 2035,
22,000 vehicles per day would use
Highway 41 between Highway 17
and Joe Rouse Road, while 13,900
vehicles per day would use the road
north to the Berkeley County line.
Page said Highway 41 would soon
reach its capacity with one lane in each
direction.
“A two-lane road fails at 19,000,”
she said, pointing out that the town
will continue to grow along 41. “It’s
going to reach its capacity real soon.”
The mayor said it’s important to
understand the traffic patterns in
Mount Pleasant and to do everything
possible to keep motorists moving in
the right direction.
“One thing a community needs
to do is to study and understand the
State Sen. Larry Grooms, left, and Mount Pleasant Councilman Paul Gawrych agree that the
town, county, state and federal government should work together to improve Highway 41.
Photo by John Kurc. Move
into a
new
career.
It is projected that over
the next decade, the
Charleston-area
population will grow by
an average of 205
people per day. Who will
help all of these new
residents find homes?
Could it be you?
3800 Paramount Drive
North Charleston, South Carolina 29405
843.953.6684