City of North Charleston to discuss proposed railroad overpass study

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — North Charleston is discussing a proposed railroad overpass study at two different crossings as one of the transportation sales tax items.

The proposed TST project is a railroad overpass study at Azalea Drive and Stromboli Avenue and Virginia Avenue and Noisette Boulevard in North Charleston with an estimated cost of $5 million. The study will assess train traffic and decide whether an overpass over the railroad is feasible and the best option forward.

“The City of North Charleston was founded with the idea of industry,” Adam MacConnell, North Charleston’s director of special projects, said. “We are a community that lives with trains, but they do have an impact to our community. As port and rail operations increase in the next decade or so, we anticipate there’ll be a lot more impact to our community.”

This comes at the same time as several projects are expected to make it an even busier area. The State Ports Authority’s Navy Base Intermodal Facility will eventually start operating at full capacity and they have also purchased the former paper mill, which will increase the size of the terminal.

Both city leaders and county officials say the study will help them be proactive and define the traffic issues and create solutions in anticipation of an increase in freight traffic.

“It’s so important to first understand the problem that you’re trying to solve,” Eric Adams, Charleston County public works director, said. “We don’t want to rush to a solution that isn’t the best solution without understanding what other alternatives are, and what the impacts are as well.”

Those impacts include impacts to the community and impacts to the environment.

“You really want to vet that out and make sure that we are moving forward in a responsible way and that we’re solving the problem that we set out to solve,” Adams said.

The Azalea Avenue-Stromboli Avenue overpass would mitigate impacts from the new multimodal container yard and prevent neighborhood isolation during long, rail-induced, road closures. The Virginia Avenue-Noisette Boulevard overpass would address future rail impacts associated with the Navy Yard intermodal facility and support redevelopment of the former base into a mixed-use downtown with waterfront access.

“We cannot be relying upon the state or the federal government at this time to provide the resources necessary to keep up with the infrastructure needs of the region,” MacConnell said. “We’re happy that we’ll be able to get in front of this project with these proposed overpasses.”

However, some residents are expressing concerns on social media about the impacts of a potential overpass, alleging it will increase safety concerns and make traffic worse.

“We understand that there’s some concern in the community regarding overpasses and this would never be done without a significant effort to include public input and perception and ideas of alternatives,” MacConnell says. “It’s not intended to impact the community. It’s there to enhance the community.”

The next public listening session is on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Park Circle Community Center located at 4800 Park Circle in North Charleston. Those who wish to provide input on the use of the transportation sales tax can do so here.