Since 2019, the City of Charleston has been planning the Ashley River Crossing, a pedestrian and bicycle bridge connecting West Ashley and Downtown.
Many milestones have been met since the crossing’s initial proposal. In November 2019, it received a BUILD grant from the federal government and in August of this year, Superior Construction Company officially made an offer to design and build the bridge. This came at a cost, however: $73,860,000, nearly double the original expected budget of $40 million. Charleston’s City Council has yet to receive a final contract for approval, but one is expected to come in the coming months or years.
The proposal has great public support. County resident and former AMHS student Juliette Beuk describes the current bridge as being a “really awkward stretch where you need to cross the river and basically share the road with cars traveling well over 45mph.” She elaborates to say “If it were not for the West Ashley Bridge being so inhospitable towards biking, I could easily bike from where I live in West Ashley, all the way downtown.”
This is not the first proposal to provide more pedestrian and bike infrastructure on the Ashley River. In 2014, Charleston’s City Council approved for one lane of the T. Allen Legare Bridge across the Ashley River to be converted to a pedestrian and bike lane. After no action for two years, the Council approved the proposal once more in 2016. For a month and a half that year in April and May, one lane on the bridge was closed to test its effect on traffic. Despite remaining support from both residents of Charleston and the city itself, the Charleston County Council struck down the proposal in 2017. The failure in the past for cyclists and pedestrians to be accommodated by the city and county leads Beuk to skepticism of the current proposal: “I have low faith the city will actually build it, to the detriment of bikers and pedestrians.”
The Ashley River Crossing proposal falls in line with a growing sentiment in both the United States and the rest of the world in favor of more environmentally conscious transportation. Last year, SCDOT proposed the demarcation of a bike lane on King Street between Calhoun Street and Broad Street. If enacted, the plan would narrow the car and parking lanes in order to produce a bike lake. Despite the plan being rescinded in July, strong support from Charleston’s population remains.
The fulfillment of these environmentally conscious plans would provide a great service to residents of Charleston. The Ashley River Bridge is known to be dangerous: in 2019 a cyclist was killed in a collision on it. A pedestrian and bicycle crossing would eliminate this threat to commuters and therefore both encourage low-carbon transportation and bring safety to those who always choose to walk or bike, whether it be by choice or out of necessity. As we move closer and closer to a greener world, it is important that Charleston not fall behind and instead choose to embrace more environmentally sustainable practices.
