Lowcountry Rapid Transit presents report, seeks input

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Council of Governments is presenting Phase II of its Transit Oriented Development Study for the Lowcountry Rapid Transit project and is taking input on the materials.

The online meeting will showcase study results, mock-ups and take input online until Feb. 17.

The Lowcountry Rapid Transit system is in the design and planning Phase II. It’s set to be a modern bus rapid transit system that connects the counties.

It will operate mostly in dedicated lanes between the Fairgrounds in Ladson, serving North Charleston on Rivers Avenue and connecting to the WestEdge development in downtown Charleston. A future connection to Summerville is also planned.

The plans show 21 bus stops between Berlin G. Myers Parkway, Line Street and Hagood Avenue. Each has a plan for how to build the station and develop a hub around it. Most of the time, that means, a small group of multi-story buildings that offer affordable housing and local bikeable and walkable paths within that bus stop. These hubs differ in their main focus, from housing to business.

Megan Clark is the Assistant Planning Director for the Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Council of Governments on this project.

“There’s an opportunity to review the maps of bike-ped connections that are recommended to leave input on those maps, any comments as well on any of the deliverables from the study, there’s an opportunity to leave just general comments as well,” Clark says.

She hopes people will see how far the study has come and its goals to prevent congestion from anticipated population growth by building strategically to the transit system.

“The online meeting discusses the results that came out of five community meetings and is seeking more input from the public on bike and ped connections around those transit stations,” Clark says.

The BCDCOG region is projected to attract another half-million people and more than 200,000 jobs to the area by the year 2040. The plan outlines that if that growth can be attracted into the LCRT station areas and served by high quality transit, almost a quarter of the region’s future growth by 2040 can be accommodated without worsening congestion. The plan hopes jobs and households located in transit-oriented development areas and served by high quality transit show lower rates of car dependence and higher rates of walking, biking, transit, and shorter car trips.

“Any input we get from this online meeting we’ll incorporate into phase three as we go out and do more community engagement. Phase III will focus more on affordable housing strategies, so we want to hear from the community about what they are facing,” Clark says.