The original SCDOT proposal for Lower King Street called for a protected bike lane. This image shows one section of the street with parking on one side. Other sections have parking on both side. The plan would increase the total amount of parking and loading zones. SCDOT/Provided Cycling advocates are pushing Charleston City Council to stick to a plan to put a protected bike lane on Lower King Street.
Last year, the South Carolina Department of Transportation proposed $6.3 million worth of safety improvements for three downtown streets. Included among those was a protected, one-way bike lane on King Street from Calhoun to Broad. King Street, Meeting Street and Calhoun Street were all identified by DOT as among the top five most crash-prone streets in the state over a five year period measured from 2013 to 2018. Using federal funding, DOT developed a series of small projects on all three streets. Those include improved crosswalks, improved traffic signals and pedestrian crossing signals.
The original proposal started with reducing King Street from two one-way lanes between Calhoun and Broad to one 12-foot lane along with a one-way, protected bike lane. Existing street parking would be preserved. New parking spaces and loading zones would be added.
After receiving pushback from business owners and the College of Charleston, the city requested that DOT alter the proposal.
A letter from the College of Charleston addressed to DOT read, “our worry is that a single lane for vehicular traffic will complicate deliveries and create unintentional gridlock south of […]
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