Lack of Summerville sidewalk funding causes safety concerns

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - One Summerville resident says pedestrian and cyclist safety is not a high priority as the town suffers from lack of funding for sidewalk projects.

Christopher McClure, a member of Bike/Walk Summerville, an advocacy group that promotes cyclists and pedestrian safety, says this is especially the case on Central Avenue.

“Unfortunately, when it comes to funding these cyclist and pedestrian facilities, the priorities are there, but the funding is just not,” McClure said.

This nearly $2 million project is adding a sidewalk that would start near the Walgreens on Central Avenue and go to W. Carolina Avenue near Summerville Baptist Church. The Town of Summerville set a plan to add a sidewalk to part of Central Avenue in 2020, but the last update to that plan was in 2021.

“It’s pretty unfortunate that we have all these expensive projects that are expensive to start, require state funding, Dorchester County funding, town funding,” McClure said. “However, funding something like $2 million gets everybody super worried about the cost when we just ignore the costs on our road projects.”

Russ Touchberry, town councilmember for District 3, says everything has been designed and fully permitted for this project. They’re just waiting on the money.

“Right now, we don’t have funding source for those types of projects,” Touchberry said.

McClure says it’s not just the average citizen who’s impacted by the lack of sidewalk, but the homeless as well. He says he talked to some of the homeless in Hutchinson Square.

“They were thankful to God that they only got hit eight times while walking along just the streets in general,” McClure said. “Even the safer parts. But also, Central Avenue as well.”

The town council had their budget retreat last week where a number of community members showed up to voice their concerns. The town says they’re listening and want this area to be safe for everyone.

“There is an abnormally high need for connectivity for our homeless population and a lot of folks have talked about that,” Touchberry said. “We want a safe space for each of our residents and all of our visitors that come to Summerville.”

They’re planning to have the first reading of an ordinance that will allocate money towards this project in a few weeks, which could end up coming out of their general fund.

If this ordinance is passed, Touchberry says construction could start as early as July.

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