GOOD NEWS: City wins $18.1 million grant for bike-walk bridge over Ashley

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Staff reports  |  The city of Charleston received an $18.1 million federal grant for a standalone bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the Ashley River, an infrastructure project pushed by a broad array of politicians and leaders for years to broaden transportation options and boost safety on the highway bridges over the river.   

“The Ashley River Crossing is a critical addition to our city’s growing mobility infrastructure,” said Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg.  “The standalone structure will provide a safe and convenient crossing for citizens traveling between West Ashley and the peninsula, while protecting existing lanes of traffic. 

“When built, this crossing will help complete a 12-mile stretch of dedicated bicycle and pedestrian pathway that will strengthen the connectivity of our neighborhoods and job centers, support our ongoing West Ashley Revitalization and improve the quality of life for our citizens.”

“The creation of a separate multi-use path would provide a safe connection between West Ashley and the Charleston peninsula for pedestrians and cyclists who do not have car access or rely on non-motorized means of transportation,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote in July in a letter to U.S.  Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-Charleston, called the bridge announcement a “massive victory.”  According to the Charleston City Paper, he observed, “This is the sort of 21st century infrastructure project the Lowcountry needs — one that emphasizes environmental sustainability while relieving traffic congestion.”

The bridge is expected to cost about $22 million to build.  

In other area news:

Carolina music:  The 21st edition of the Oxford American’s music issue focuses on South Carolina artists, including several from the Lowcountry.  Take a look to find articles on and music by Lowcountry artists Ranky Tanky, Iron & Wine, Danielle Howle, Jump, Little Children, Shovels & Rope, Bill Wilson, and Benny Starr.  More in the Charleston City Paper.

College cash champs.  Academic Magnet High School and Military Magnet Academy have been named champions of Tri-County Cradle to Career Collaborative’s College Cash Campaign for increasing their Free Application for Federal Student Aid completion rates by 5 percentage points or more. Academic Magnet received “MVP” honors after leading the entire school district with 83 percent completion. Military Magnet’s 71 percent completion rate and its 9-percentage-point improvement from last year won them the “Most Improved” designation.

Boone Hall protected.  The forests and farmland around Boone Hall Plantation, threatened by increasing development pressures in Mount Pleasant, are now protected thanks to a conservation easement that closed last week.  “Boone Hall will now always be Boone Hall,” the 300+-year-old plantation said in this Facebook post.  “The protection of Boone Hall is truly ‘community’ conservation. It grounds the region with a sense of place and connects people to the land through masterful storytelling and shared experiences,” said Ashley Demosthenes, president and CEO of the Lowcountry Land Trust, which issued the nearly 600-acre easement. “The commitment of the McRae family to chart proactively the future of Boone Hall demonstrates their passion for this special place and for the thousands of guests they host each year.”  Read more here.

Few snags report for new machines. The state Election Commission touted its new paper-based voting system this week after its first real test in Tuesday’s municipal and local elections. In a statement, commission director Marci Andino called the election “successful” and credited a statewide effort to implement the new machines. League of Women Voters of South Carolina Vice President for Issues and Action Lynn Teague released this statement to Statehouse Report: “South Carolina is very fortunate to have had very small local elections for a first test of the new voting systems. We are told that in Richland County there was about 16 percent turnout.  A few computers were not working and a few were not calibrated properly. In some cases there were not enough power cords or outlets. With an average of one voter every four minutes in each polling place, and an average of four to five ballot marking devices in each polling place, the problems were accommodated without significant inconvenience to voters.  We hope that these issues will be resolved by the time of the first more serious test, the statewide primary, so that voters will not experience delays.” Teague has been among the critics of the new ballot system. 

Public input sought on Edisto River basin. South Carolina agencies are looking for public input on one of eight major river basins in the state with two stakeholder meetings: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 18 at Clemson University’s Edisto Research and Education Center in Blackville, and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Lovely Hill Convention Center in St. George. The meetings are part of the state’s effort to draft a comprehensive and forward-looking State Water Plan. Learn more. 

Checks are in the mail. Fifty dollar reimbursement checks cut from surplus money in state coffers are being sent this week to about 400,000 homes in South Carolina, according to a press release from the state Department of Revenue. More than 1.2 million households qualify for the rebate, and the checks will be sent in waves, with most receiving checks before Dec. 2. Read the full release. 

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