The upgrade fairy visits Clements Ferry
The widening of Clements Ferry Road. For years it has seemed as elusive as unicorns and eight hours of sleep. But with a cast of high-ranking officials – including new Charleston mayor John Tecklenburg – leading a public update session at Daniel Island School on Monday, January 18, the takeaway sentiment appeared informatively optimistic.
With the new Philip Simmons Elementary and Middle School scheduled to open to students in August 2016, the improvements on this already high-traffic road can’t come soon enough. And Philip Simmons High School will be opening adjacent to the grade school near Nelliefield Plantation in August 2017, bringing even more travel to and from Daniel Island.
The widening won’t actually come in the nick of time, but instead is scheduled to begin in September 2016. Phase One of the project will widen approximately 3.6 miles of Clements Ferry Road (S-33) from I-526 to Jack Primus Road (S-119). The single opposite travel lanes and center turn lane will be augmented to two travel lanes in each direction with a center turn lane or raised planted median where feasible. A multi-purpose trail will be located on one side of the roadway, and intersections within the project limits will be evaluated and improved if warranted. Phase One is currently in the permitting stage, which precedes the final stages of right-of-way acquisition and construction contracting. The entire phase is expected to take 30 months to complete.
Though it is not yet clear when Phase Two will commence, the scope of that segment is to widen approximately 4.5 miles of Clements Ferry Road (S-33) from Jack Primus Road (S-119) to SC 41. Still in the pre-design stage, Phase Two essentially seeks to mirror the improvements of Phase One onto this portion of Clements Ferry Road that runs to Mount Pleasant.
The projects are multi-jurisdictional, but the secured funding for Phase One has been credited to the Berkeley County Sales Tax referendum approved by voters in 2008. And it seems Berkeley County residents in Daniel Island and Cainhoy feel like that penny tax is (finally) filling a pot of gold at the end of a (long) rainbow.
