Maybank Highway and Johns Island Transportation Improvements

Future improvements to Maybank Highway on Johns Island have been in the works for several years. The initial plans included several scenarios but a 5-lane street became the option favored by the traffic engineers hired by Charleston County.

In 2007, the City of Charleston completed the Johns Island Plan with tremendous participation from stakeholders on the Island. The transportation element of the plan recommends improvements to Maybank Highway that avoids extensive widening along the entire length of the road between River Road and Bohicket Road. Developed by a nationally recognized traffic engineer, the City's concept for Maybank includes a "town" section that incorporates left-turn lanes into a more urban style street. The "country" section shows a wider road, but maintains two travel lanes with green medians and bicycle/pedestrian facilities. Another key facet of the City's concept is that a parallel network on streets be created or linked to form a grid pattern for local and neighborhood traffic.

In late February 2008, Charleston County Council decided to revisit all possible scenarios for improvements to Maybank Highway--including the City's concept. The City and County have hired Rick Hall (Hall Planning & Engineering - HPE), a traffic engineer well-known for designing streets and networks in context with the neighborhood, to conduct a traffic study that includes the City's Maybank Highway concept.

The first public workshop for the study was held May 6, 2008 on Johns Island. Rick Hall presented meeting attendees with scenarios of typical road widenings and with alternative street designs. The public were invited to comment using a public comment form. Comments from the public and Rick's presentation slides can be viewed below.

The HPE Study (see link below) was completed in December 2008 and presented to the City and Charleston County. Charleston City Council endorsed the City citing its congruence with the land use recommendations in the recent Johns Island Community Plan. Charleston County Council disagreed with some elements of the study's findings and felt further study was needed to ensure the best plan for Maybank Highway is ultimately adopted.

To reach consensus on the main issues, Charleston County asked the Urban Land Institute (South Carolina) to coordinate a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) whose primary responsibility it was to evaluate previous plans and studies and make clear recommendations for the direction of the Maybank Improvements project.

The TAP met in February 2009 to receive background briefings, interview stakeholders and coordinate public input sessions. The final report (February 6, 2009) established an underlying principle and several key recommendations:

Guiding Principle:
All transportation-related decisions need to be consistent withcommunity land use plans.

Recommendations:
1. Establish A street and roadway network
2. Widen Maybank Highway from Stono Bridge to River Road
3. Improve Maybank Highway / River Road intersection
4. Adopt the primary components of the Johns Island Community Plan for Maybank Highway from River Road to Bohicket / Main Roads

Click the link below for the full TAP Recommendations report.

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