County Tweaks Bridge Merge Lane

On Sunday, April 24, Charleston County crews modified the traffic merge lane onto the Ashley River Bridge, which is part of the controversial Bike/Pedestrian Improvement Project Test Lane. Previously, the traffic merge was located on Folly Road just north of Albemarle Road. It has been moved closer to the Ashley River Bridge in order to alleviate some of the traffic congestion associated with the lane closure. The lane remains closed to bicyclists and pedestrians during the testing period.
Since the installation of the temporary lane closure, meant to test the impact of the proposed bike lane, Charleston County staff, City of Charleston staff, and the County consultant have been monitoring the daily traffic counts and travel times on all the approaching routes, including the James Island Connector.
According to county reports, travel times on U.S. 17 and S.C. 61 remain closely similar to how they were prior to the test lane opening, which is not open to bicyclists and pedestrians. However, the county reports that there have been delays in traffic approaching the bridge from Folly Road.
The County moved the traffic merge point over the weekend to reduce the conflict of the merging traffic caused by the lane closure and the traffic signals on Folly Road at Albemarle Road and at Windermere Boulevard. This will allow two lanes of travel on Folly Road Boulevard for an extended distance in hopes of helping to reduce the traffic congestion and delays being seen on James Island.
According to the county, the lane closure will now remain in place for up to 30 days to allow for traffic patterns to adjust and further test runs and traffic counts to be completed.
Bicyclist and pedestrians are prohibited from using the lane closure to cross the bridge at this time due to necessary safety improvements for bike and pedestrian use that have not been implemented at this time.