JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
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Question: With the increasing traffic from the Boeing plant, turning onto Midland Park from Arthur Drive is increasingly congested. These delays increase fuel cost, add to pollution, impact productivity and generally reduce quality of life for those using the back gate. Extending the "pass-around" to Midland Park would significantly reduce the wait for many drivers. Are there plans to improve the intersection at Arthur Drive and Midland Park? The extension of the "pass-around" could be done with minimal cost, likely less than the cost of re-paving the parking lot across from the Chapel and much less than new gate barriers.
Response: First and foremost, thank you for your call. Let me just go on to say that I empathize and understand what you are experiencing as it pertains to the delays in the afternoon when leaving the base via the Rivers Gate. There are several possible ways to alleviate the congestion. One, and a short resolution to the problem, is to add a bypass lane. The bypass lane could take anywhere from one to two years to fund, design and build. Additionally, this solution may take a few years to complete to our satisfaction and ensure we do not lose direct or unencumbered traffic flow in and out of Rivers Gate.
The county's interim plan is to traverse Air Force property in critical areas and we are working with them on a solution to alleviate the traffic problems caused by I-26 congestion and the addition of the new Boeing plant. The county's proposal would eventually solve the Midland Park Road intersection problem as it would no longer exist.
In the meantime, we will research the cost to increase the length of the bypass lane, but there are new construction statutory limits we cannot exceed. New pavement is considered new construction and roadways are extremely expensive to build. Unlike the reference to the Chapel parking lot and the new gate barriers, they fell into a repair category. While those projects were still quite expensive, they were within local statutory approval limits for repair work. However, the final solution will be the injection of a Charleston County option in the early stages of discussion for the expansion of South Aviation to four lanes from Ashley Phosphate Road to the new Boeing Plant.
Thank you for calling the Action Line.
Col. Martha Meeker - Joint Base Charleston Commander