Avondale Point Project Begins … Finally

“Finally after 10 years of begging and waiting!” began a Facebook post last week by Heather K. Powers, president of the Byrnes Downs Neighborhood Association.
Powers was celebrating the announcement by state officials that work had begun to enhance the dangerous strip of Savannah Highway centered around Avondale Point, West Ashley’s most vibrant area for nightlife and dining.
State officials last week sent out letters and began posting signs that construction would soon begin on a curbed median in the middle of the highway between Daniel and Maple streets.
Local residents and local officials had been meeting and planning and suggesting solutions to the potentially deadly five-points intersection. That piece of road had seen three near-fatal collisions between automobiles and pedestrians in the past two years.
Pedestrians will be able to find a spot in the new median to pause before crossing fully to the other side, without playing chicken with oncoming traffic.
Adding to the enhanced safety will be a stamped asphalt crosswalk, to better guide walkers out of the path of drivers. Additionally, drainage work will soon begin, as will pedestrian signal improvements.
Not all of the state’s project is safety-related. Landscaping and irrigation facets have been included, which could dovetail with area merchants plans to create a “sense of place” for motorists and potential customers.
State officials said in the aforementioned letter to expect lane closings to allow for different phases of the project, but that the closings will be limited to the hours between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The project is slated to be completed by the end of November of this year.