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The Camp-Folly intersection is now a grade F intersection.
RoadWise's plans would cost $6 million and cut down 28-41 of our grand oaks.
If this project is completed, the intersection will still be a grade F.
According to RoadWise, it would simply be a "better F."
For so little payoff, this cost is too high.
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Camp & Folly Intersection: From Grade "F" to Grade "F"
How You Can Help:
- Submit a public comment to RoadWise - Single most important step
- Talk to your neighbors - Learn more about this issue, then go teach others!
- Tell your elected officials - Use your voice! - Click for applicable contacts
Submit a Public Comment to RoadWise:
The deadline to submit comments to RoadWise is Friday, May 30th. Please click here to submit your comments online. Please forward this link to EVERYONE YOU KNOW.
Until RoadWise comes up with a more acceptable plan, IRE is advocating Alternative 3 (No Build). In the comment field, please write that you want to see other, more modest options presented that solve our problems without clear-cutting our canopy of oaks. Adding a comment is essential!
EXAMPLE PUBLIC COMMENT (Feel free to use if you are short on time):
"I support Alternative 3 because I do not believe any of the current RoadWise plans will solve our problems and sadly, they will probably even cause harm. The canopy of oaks on Camp Road is important to James Island culture, history, and identity. Please do not cut down all our trees for a plan that won't work!
Please go back to the drawing board and come back to us with a plan that uses modest, scaled-back designs to solve our problems without clear-cutting our oaks. Simple changes like reducing the taper length of turn lanes and adding a right turn lane by Walgreen's (where the path already exists) will go a long way towards helping us without hurting us. The design should be safe, effective, and respectful of our community."
This temporary tactic will demand real alternatives from RoadWise. Obviously we all want to see the intersection improve, but Alternatives 1, 2, and 4 are not only ineffective, they are likely to cause harm.
Alternatives 1, 2, and 4 are unsafe. They move the bottleneck from Folly Road to Camp Road, and they create a dangerous merge situation that will cause accidents and bring traffic to a stand still.
The cost is too high. Why would we want to cut down between 28 and 41 of our live oaks if we are still going to have to wait in traffic? We'll just be waiting in a different spot.
Talk to Your Neighbors, Family, and Friends:
Here are some things to consider:
- How does the RoadWise plan address morning and afternoon traffic back-ups on Camp Road in front of the middle schools? (It doesn’t. The project does not address those sections of Camp Road.)
- Does RoadWise plan to ask for any variances from SCDOT that would help preserve any of the grand oak trees? Such as the length of merge lanes, speed limit through the intersection, etc. (No, not according to the project manager.)
- Can the sidewalks be moved BEHIND the oak trees to provide a barrier between traffic and pedestrians and preserve trees?
- Would the creation of a right-hand turn lane from Camp to Folly by Walgreen’s preserve oak trees? (Yes, by making the existing lane a left turn lane and creating a right/straight turn by taking a section of Walgreen’s lawn).
- How will James Island be compensated for the loss of grand oaks? Will mitigation stay on the island? (Mitigation is when someone plants trees to compensate for cutting trees. One 36-inch tree would equal, for example, twelve 3-inch trees. There is no mitigation bank on James Island. If on-site mitigation is not possible due to space constraints, our credits will be ‘banked’ and go to another community.)
- Is a bike lane between two moving lanes of car traffic on Folly and Camp Roads a wise decision? Is it possible to consider a multiuse path if this saves trees?
- This section of Folly Road is currently a grade "F" – failing according to RoadWise. What will the grade be after construction? (According to RoadWise, it will still be "F" – failing.)
Want to know more? Click to read our 11-item list of concerns about RoadWise's plans – along with possible solutions. This list will give you good talking points for your comment forms and explain the problems in more detail.
Do you have other concerns or more ideas for solutions? Email ire@isrex.org.
Use Your Voice – Contact Our Officials
Read our 11-item list of concerns and contact these folks. They are here to stand up for us and enact our will!
- Buck Limehouse, Head of SC DOT (Ask DOT to grant us variances)
955 Park Street, P.O. Box 191, Columbia, SC 29202-0191
803-737-2314 (w)
Email: scdot_contact@scdot.org
- Charleston County Councilman for James Island, Paul Thurmond (RoadWise is administered by the County)
15 Middle Atlantic Wharf, Charleston, SC 29401
843-937-8000 (w)
Email: pthurmond@tktlawfirm.com
- Town of James Island (The Town has jurisdiction over this area):
Town Hall: 1238 Camp Road, James Island SC 29412
843-762-7744 (w)
Email: maryclark@townofjamesislandsc.org
- Joe Riley, Mayor (The City asked RoadWise to do this project):
City Hall: 80 Broad Street, Charleston SC 29401
843-724-3737 (w)
Email: rileyj@ci.charleston.sc.us
- Kathleen Wilson, City of Charleston District 12 (James Island)
692 Travers Court, James Island, SC 29412
843-795-7507 (h)
- Timothy Mallard, City of Charleston District 11 (James Island)
3095 South Shore Drive, Charleston, SC 29407
843-270-5618 (w)
- Gary White, City of Charleston District 1 (James Island)
PO Box 599, Charleston, SC 29402
843-364-1876 (h)
- SC State Senator Glenn McConnell
Email: sju@scsenate.org
Main District Office
27 Bainbridge Drive
Charleston, SC 29407
843-747-7554
Columbia Office
101 Gressette Building
Columbia, SC 29201
803-212-6610
- SC State Representative Wallace Scarborough
Email: wbs@schouse.org - Wallace will not answer emails, but he says if you write him a letter by post, he'll respond.
PO Box 20010
Charleston, SC 29413
Tuesday through Thuresday: 803-734-2948
Monday and Friday: 843-573-3053
- Email a Letter to the Editor to barbara@postandcourier.com or send it to Barbara Williams at 134 Columbus Street, Charleston, SC 29403.
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