Mark Clark Extension
Alternatives to Seven Miles of New Interstate
One step back for Mark Clark success
Charleston County Council voted last night to reconsider their decision earlier this month nixing the Mark Clark Expressway. It was an unfortunate choice, brought about by extreme pressure from boosters of the highway who claimed the county would have to repay millions of dollars that have been spent so far on studies and right-of-way acquisition. This argument turns logic on its head and contradicts one of America’s strongest environmental laws, as SELC senior attorney Chris DeScherer explains in this op-ed.
Case Summary
In the Charleston area, the South Carolina Department of Transportation wants to build a seven-mile extension of Interstate 526—the Mark Clark Expressway—that would imperil wetlands, fragment wildlife habitat and cut through a rural community. Further more, transportation experts believe the road would exacerbate, rather than alleviate, congestion problems.
Despite an estimated price tag of roughly almost half a billion dollars, and despite a transportation funding crisis of historic proportions, SCDOT continues to push the project.
Fixing a Transportation Problem
At the root of local traffic problems in eastern Charleston is the lack of connection between existing streets and roads, without which drivers are forced onto major thoroughfares like Savannah Highway, for even simple errands, creating major bottlenecks. Improvements to the street network would:
- Cost less than half the estimated total for the four-lane interstate extension;
- Give local drivers more options to reach the places where they live, work and shop; and
- Relieve as much as half or more of the traffic on major roads.
As the environmental impact statement is prepared, SELC is urging SCDOT and the Federal Highway Administration to explore fully these and other options presented in "A New Way to Work," a plan developed by leading transportation experts that shows there are more efficient, less damaging, and far less costly ways to meet the area’s traffic challenges.
The plan focuses on improving the connectivity of the existing road system, giving drivers more options for reaching their destination, thus relieving more than half the traffic on major roads as well as improving access to local businesses—all at a cost of less than half of the proposed I-526 extension. The plan also calls for taking down highway flyovers that block out the marsh, bringing these roads to grade and opening up new waterfront green-space possibilities for communities such as West Ashley.