Mount Pleasant could begin transportation improvements by fall 2027 now that Charleston County voters have renewed the half-cent transportation sales tax, and Johnnie Dodds Boulevard is among the roads slated for work, WCIV ABC News 4 reported Nov. 6.
Because the referendum allows the money to be borrowed through bonds, the town can start sooner, and meetings are already being scheduled to begin planning, the station reported.
The largest project on the town’s list is the intersection of Johnnie Dodds Boulevard and Houston Northcutt Boulevard, which the county’s project list put at $230 million, the Charleston City Paper reported in July. More than 80,000 cars use the corridor each day, and its traffic volumes are higher than those on 73% of the state’s freeways and interstates, officials told ABC News 4.
“This intersection does need some major improvements,” said James Aton, Mount Pleasant’s director of engineering and development. “We’ll work through those with our Transportation Committee and provide a couple of different options as far as operation improvements,” he told the station.
Town officials outlined three categories of tax money for Mount Pleasant: $400 million for featured projects, $20 million for bike and pedestrian safety and $8 million for intersections, ABC News 4 reported. By Charleston Business Report’s calculation, the featured total equals the two Mount Pleasant projects in the City Paper’s July list: the Johnnie Dodds intersection and $170 million for Long Point Road at Boone Hall Creek.
Work on the town’s roads could include added turn lanes, possible roundabouts and infrastructure repairs, with bike and pedestrian safety a major focus, the station reported. The projects are expected to line up with the town’s Safety Action Plan, and officials said public input will help decide what is built first.
“We’ve been falling short for decades and so these local option sales tax allow us to pursue these much-needed improvements,” Aton said.
Voters approved the tax extension Nov. 3. It runs for up to 25 years or until it raises $4.25 billion countywide.
