Traffic and Transportation Committee

TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION June 18, 2019 A meeting of the Committee on Traffic and Transportation was held this date beginning at 2:00 p.m., at City Hall, 80 Broad Street, First Floor Conference Room Notice of this meeting was sent to all local news media. PRESENT Councilmember Seekings, Chair; Councilmember Wagner, Councilwoman Jackson, and Mayor Tecklenburg Also Present: Keith Benjamin, Robbie Somerville, Janie Borden, Rick Jerue, and Bethany Whitaker, Council Secretary The meeting was opened with a moment of silence provided by Chairman Seekings. APPROVAL OF MINUTES On the motion of Councilwoman Jackson, seconded by Mayor Tecklenburg, the Committee voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the May 28, 2019 meeting. Memorandum of Understanding between the South Carolina Department of Transportation, Berkeley County and the City of Charleston to allow the installation of a traffic control signal at the intersection of Beresford Run and Clements Ferry Road as stipulated. Mr. Benjamin stated that earlier this year they had made a visit to Columbia to meet the Chief Engineer and head of Permitting in regards to wanting to see signalization. This was an intersection that both the City, County, and State agreed made sense for a signal. It also checked a box for public safety. There was a Fire Station opportunity there. The people in Columbia were pressing into the district office to do something they hadn’t done before which was to create a Memorandum of Understanding for two things. One was that for five years, they would make it clear that this intersection was the appropriate location for a signal and also to make sure that the City and County together had design control of the connective access. From a process standpoint, SCDOT requested that it come before the City first. Then, it would be passed to Berkeley County and then to SCDOT. Councilwoman Jackson asked if this was where the ‘T’ intersection was. Mr. Benjamin said no and that it was slightly off the highway. Enterprise Drive was slightly to the north. Ideally, they wanted to make the investment to align into Beresford because it led into a large active neighborhood. This MOU would make the intersection a priority and that was what they wanted to see happen. Chairman Seekings asked who drafted it. Mr. Benjamin said that it was drafted by the District Office, and then passed to the legal office in Columbia. Chairman Seekings said he noticed that it said it expired after five years if the signal wasn’t built. It was in perpetuity if the signal was built or if it came down. Mr. Benjamin said the simple answer was yes and no traffic light would be built within a quarter mile. Mayor Tecklenburg said that he thought this was a good idea and it facilitated the future construction of the fire station and to realign Enterprise Drive. He felt like this was a requirement and that it was going to get them a signal. Mr. Benjamin said the developer was prepared to pay for the realignment and signalization. On the motion of Councilwoman Jackson, seconded by Councilmember Wagner, the Committee voted unanimously to approve the above item. 1 Director’s Update Mr. Benjamin said they had sat with the County about a week previous regarding resurfacing. Peachtree was being serviced by SCDOT currently. Sanders Road was set for the third week of July to be resurfaced. The County would be sending the municipalities notifications beforehand so people would know it was happening. Parsonage off of Hwy. 61 was up for reclamation which meant they recycled the asphalt. That was set for August. Seaside and Wappoo Hall was set for November. Councilmember Wagner stated that Sanders Road was getting that done and at the end it would be tied to Wildcat. He asked if they had heard anything on widening that road. The County owned one side and the City owned the other. They had just built a small subdivision back there and there was a large portion set for development. There was also going to be a new school and library off that area. At some point, they would have to figure out when it would be widened and when there would be lights. Mr. Benjamin stated that he didn’t think this process consisted of any widening. It was all resurfacing work. The existing road couldn’t contain the bus traffic that was there. However, he had asked for the inclusion of the signal at the top. They were working with the County. The road needed to be upgraded to where it needed to be. That was going to be a topic of conversation going forward. Councilwoman Jackson asked if they could give an update about the Maybank Highway area. She thought that some things were going to happen with painted crosswalks when it was resurfaced. Mr. Benjamin said they hadn’t said when that was going to happen. It was supposed to start three weeks previous, but they hadn’t heard when it would occur. For the CTC request, they put forward the priority being that pedestrian access. That was a top priority. The CTC wanted to meet in August and they would review that. They were pretty confident that project would get its award because between County, the City, and the State, there was heavy agreement that was appropriate and important. They had had conversations with the Council of Governments about access to the Complete Streets funding they approved through CHATS and how that could help within the corridor. Ron Mitchum was looking at that and what possibilities there might be. Councilwoman Jackson asked if he felt they were holding off because when the safety analysis report was issued, at that point they were expecting to resurface the road as it was right away. Mr. Benjamin said he didn’t think they were holding off. They just had to find out when. There was a long list of roads and when they gave it to the contractor, they had 270 days to get it done. Mr. Benjamin said he would do his due diligence with that. Mr. Benjamin said that Councilmember Moody had asked about Betsy Road and looking into getting a fee-in-lieu for the connection that was there. They had a meeting with the developer and the County. The catch was the cost of that project was very significant. It was over $550,000. So, if the developer did give any level of fee, they couldn’t require it and they would have to apply to the TST for what that would be. So, it wasn’t very high on the list. It was at about 29 of the 51 requests with regards to side walking, but there was interest in giving some level of fee to that project. It would just be an expensive request. Councilwoman Jackson asked what that meant for the developer then. Mr. Benjamin said there was nothing in the ordinance structure for something that wasn’t even close to their parcel, to stipulate that they had to pay in any particular way for the side walking. There was just agreement around the table 2 that it made sense to do. So, if they went for a TST request, they could raise the level of prioritization of that application when they were bringing dollars to the table. Right now, it was ranking fairly low though. Councilwoman Jackson said it was a good idea for the future. Mr. Benjamin said that cost was for Betsy Road, from US 17 to Sanford. That would be Phase 1. Mr. Benjamin said that the transit ordinance was on the Council agenda. They gave second and third reading, but it needed to go to the Planning Commission first, which was happening the next night, and then it would come back to Council. Chairman Seekings said he could tell the Planning Commission that they liked it. Mr. Benjamin stated that they had their fellows with them who were in the department. Phazion Myers stated he was a rising sophomore pursuing engineering. It was great to be back home and be under Mayor Tecklenburg and Mr. Benjamin. Harrison Wedgeworth said he was a rising junior at The Citadel. He was excited to join the program. Mayor Tecklenburg said they had some late arrivals. They were there in interest of the matter that was already passed. BJ Bryan stated he was the HOA President for Beresford Creek. Beresford Run was the access point to Clements Ferry Road. They lived near an ‘Achilles heel’ from a zoning standpoint. There was a high industrial lot. He understood that that development was undergoing some change. They appreciated all of the efforts from the City. The biggest concern in regards to access and what leverage they had towards ensuring that corridor management was exactly that and that it wouldn’t create an opportunity for a developer to come in and do something like a concrete factory or truck stop. They wanted a better understanding of how they could protect that corridor. Chairman Seekings said that Mr. Benjamin was there and they could sit down and talk with him. Mayor Tecklenburg stated that the specifics would not be known until an application came forward. However, he felt assured that they had some authority over the design of the access point. He could talk with Planning and Traffic and Transportation. Chairman Seekings said that Mr. Bryan was on the record now and so nothing would happen without him being aware. Having no further business, the Committee adjourned at 2:22 p.m. Bethany Whitaker Council Secretary 3