Academic Magnet is a great school. It is consistently ranked #2 each year and is full of bright students and caring teachers. There is one big downside however: its location. Situated in the back of a neighborhood in North Charleston, it is in a good area that is both safe and allows people from all around to attend the school. Yet, it falls victim to horrible traffic and trains that constantly seem to be in the way. As a result, many people have discovered shortcuts and cut throughs around them. Here are my best shortcuts and cut throughs:

Cutting Through the Neighborhood

If you take either I-26 or I-526, the route to school is unnecessarily long. Filled with traffic lights, giant roundabouts, and an unending stream of traffic, the last mile to school is often the longest. In order to bypass this, a quick hack is to cut through the neighborhood. 

          From I-526: If you are coming from I-526 and driving towards Magnet, then a quick cut through is turning right on one of the neighborhood streets before you get to the roundabout. By taking a quick route through the neighborhood that kicks you out near the Danny Jones Complex, you can avoid a lot of traffic. Personally, I think the fastest neighborhood street is to turn immediately off of North Rhett Avenue after you get off I-526 and turn onto Braddock Avenue. If you head down Braddock Avenue for a bit, you then should turn onto Ashby Avenue which you can follow all the way, as it becomes Wando Drive, until you reach Mixson Avenue, the street that feeds into the school.

          From I-26: If you are coming from I-26 towards Magnet, a quick hack is to avoid the light on the intersection between East Montague and Mixson Avenue. The left turn signal is green for only a brief period of time and with traffic almost always coming through the intersection, you have little other time to turn. As a result, traffic, waiting to turn, will back up very far down Mixson Avenue, often as far down as the Family Dollar. Instead of waiting in this traffic which seems to creep along, I find it fastest to get in the right lane and bypass all the sitting cars lined up waiting to turn. Instead, I continue past the Mixson/East Montague intersection and get in the turning lane on the left on East Montague where I turn onto Boulevard Lane. Following Boulevard Lane to its conclusion through the neighborhood, I turn left onto Wando Drive, which quickly puts me out onto Mixson Avenue. With this little cut-through, I can get around all the cars sitting at the intersection and even some of the traffic that builds up at the base of Mixson Avenue.

Going Around the Train- I-26 Only

Fortunately for those coming to Magnet from I-526, the trains that run on the tracks that cross East Montague right near the exit from I-526 do not normally run during the times Magnet students are arriving or departing. This however is simply not the case for those coming from I-26 onto East Montague. The trains that run across East Montague near the I-26 exit seemed to come at the absolute worst times. If you have any sort of paper or test due, then the train will surely be there. They used to seem to come primarily on Wednesdays but lately they seem to follow no pattern. Luckily, there are a lot of easy routes around the train but the best route depends on where you are when you come upon the traffic backup caused by the train. Here are three different routes depending on where the backed up traffic caused by the train starts:

         If traffic starts before you even turn onto East Montague: Sometimes the train-traffic is so bad that it is already on the exit-ramp coming off of I-26 and other times you can see the built up traffic as you approach the ramp. In either of those cases, instead of getting in the right lane immediately once you get off the interstate, get in the left lane which will take you under the East Montague bridge and onto Mall Drive. If you turn left and continue down Mall Drive, it will take you over a bridge that crosses the train tracks, onto Rivers Avenue. Follow Rivers Avenue under another East Montague Bridge and to the intersection of Durant Avenue and East Montague. For reference, on the far left corner of the intersection is a large shopping mall that helps make it easier to identify the proper turn. At the intersection, you should turn left which you follow briefly until you turn left on Mixson Avenue. It should be noted that this beginning section of Mixson Avenue is fairly tight as it passes through an apartment complex with cars parked on one side of the road and a barrier in the middle, but in reality it is wider than it seems. Following this road will take you all the way to your turn on West Enterprise Street, the street that holds Magnet.

          If traffic starts on the base of East Montague: Oftentimes, I first notice the traffic from the train after I have turned off I-26 onto East Montague. If there is a lot of traffic in the middle two lanes, then I continue down the right lane and turn right onto Goer Drive where I can turn around. I then drive straight through the traffic light at the intersection of Mall Drive and East Montague which puts me out onto Mall Drive. Conversely, if when I first turn onto East Montague there is not a lot of traffic in the middle two lanes, then I get into the far left lane and turn left through the intersection of East Montague and Mall Drive. Either scenario puts me out onto Mall Drive from which I can follow the same route that I use when the train traffic builds up before I turn onto East Montague: straight down Mall Drive, right on Rivers Avenue, left onto Durant Avenue, and left onto Mixson Avenue which I continue down.

         If traffic starts right near the train tracks: More often than not, traffic will start near the train tracks or rather the railroad gates will come down right in front of you. This can be both a best case scenario of getting stopped by the train or the worst case scenario. The best case scenario is if you happen to be near the intersection of Piedmont Avenue and East Montague. If you are near the intersection in the left lane, then you can turn left down an unnamed exit ramp that quickly takes you back onto Rivers Avenue. If you are near the intersection in the right lane, you can turn onto Morningside Drive, another small street that takes you back onto Rivers. From Rivers, you can follow my previous instructions to make your way to school. The worst case scenario is if you are past the intersection of Mall Drive and East Montague but not close enough to the intersection of Piedmont Avenue and East Montague to turn left or right. In this case, you are unfortunately stuck.

All of these shortcuts and routes are meant to shorten your travel times on the way to school in the mornings but they should not be prioritized over safety. In all these cut-through routes, please obey the traffic laws and respect those around you, especially those who live in the neighborhood. This is the first of two articles; the second article will describe methods to get around the train from I-526 and many other shortcuts and cut-throughs around the school.