Lowcountry Connections

The opening of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in July 2005 was an exciting time for bicyclists and pedestrians in the Charleston, SC region; more than 150,000 walkers, runners, cyclists and those in wheelchairs attended the opening festivities on the bridge in the three days before cars were allowed to cross over the Cooper River. The three-mile bridge, which connects the City of Charleston and the Town of Mount Pleasant, is the longest span bridge in North American. The roadway consists of eight 12-foot lanes, four in each direction. A 12-foot bicycle and pedestrian path runs along the entire south edge of the bridge overlooking Charleston Harbor.

The bicycle and pedestrian path, however, was not always included in the plans for the bridge. The facilities were added as a result of a grass roots effort led by a local advocacy group, Charleston Moves, with a formal Campaign to Make the Cooper River Bridge Bikeable and Walkable. The Community Health Partners, Charleston Running Club, Coastal Conservation League, and other volunteers rallied around the motto "Can't Wait to Bike the New Bridge." Hundreds of t-shirts were printed and thousands of bumper stickers with the logo appeared on cars. More than 30,000 letters were sent to the mayors. The South Carolina Department of Transportation then agreed to add the proposed bike/pedestrian facilities.

The regional planning agency, the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCD COG), came away with a new mission after the public input on the new bridge. Residents wanted bike/ped facilities added to transportation projects; unfortunately, there was not a comprehensive regional bicycle and pedestrian plan connecting neighborhoods and communities. Because of rising concerns about the health and safety of residents in the Berkeley Charleston Dorchester region, the BCD COG and its partners applied for a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through its Active Living by Design (ALbD) program. With funding received from the program, the BCD COG developed the Low Country Connections Project to complete a Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan to create safe and convenient environments that will enable and encourage people to be more physically active on a day-to-day basis.

BCDR Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan

The Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan is based on three principles:

(1) Children should be able to safely walk and bike to school if they and their parents so choose.
(2) Roadways should equally accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.
(3) Bicycling and walking should become a routine part of daily activity in the BCD region.

With these principles as a guide, an Action Plan was developed to improve walking and bicycling conditions in the region and to encourage residents to walk and bike on a daily basis. The Action Plan consists of three elements:

(1) Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Programs

The goal of a SRTS program is to create a safer environment for children who already walk and bike to school, and to encourage more children to become physically active by walking or bicycling to school. SRTS programs also benefit the community by reducing traffic congestion around schools, improving air quality, and reducing school transportation costs.

(2) Complete Streets

A Complete Street is a street that is safe and convenient for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists. Complete Streets policies should be routinely implemented at state and local levels to insure that pedestrian and bicycle facilities are included in all transportation projects. This approach is far less expensive than costly retrofits on streets that were only designed to

(3) Community Intervention

To foster environments where walking and bicycling are a routine part of daily activity, a variety of community interventions are needed in the BCD region. Physical interventions are needed to improve bicycle and pedestrian access such as sidewalks, trails and roadway improvements. Social interventions are needed to encourage people to walk or bicycle for health, fitness, and transportation.

Several projects sites were selected to demonstrate the process and outcome of community intervention. Interventions should take place in communities that already have some walking or bicycling activity, and have a mix of residential, commercial and retail destinations in close proximity to give residents the opportunity to walk or bike to their destinations. Communities needing intervention also have safety hazards for pedestrians and bicyclists and lack pedestrian and bicycle facilities.

"...people should be given the choice to ride a bike or walk to school or church or work, and public policy should be there to make sure the infrastructure is in place to do it safely and conveniently."
~ Don Sparks, PhD The Citadel President of Charleston Moves

Resources

Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments

Charleston Moves

The Cooper River Bridge, from SCDOT

The Bridge Builders, Special Supplement from the Post & Courier