Hello,

I am writing to express my concerns with the SCDOT plans for the I-526 @ Long Point Road Interchange Improvements in Mount Pleasant.

I am passionately opposed to Alternatives 2 & 6 because both plans call for the construction of a 40ft high, elevated truck bridge to be placed nearly on top of the communities of Grassy Creek, Tidal Walk, Belle Hall and Moultrie.  Together, we are 1,180 homes and an elevated truck bridge in this location will cause real, lasting and inequitable harm to our residents.  

We stand in full support of our SC Ports and understand the economic importance of the Wando Terminal in our community, but we believe a better solution exists. In fact we have come up with several that deserve consideration.  And while we appreciate the complexity of the issue at hand, “favored” options 2 & 6, which reduce truck traffic off Long Point Road and from in-front of those neighborhoods, do so at the expense of concentrating it and placing it at the front of ours.  We believe a solution exists to benefit all neighborhoods near the Port, by reducing truck traffic off Long Point Road, expediting truck access to/from our Port, all without the undue burden these options place on our neighborhoods.

Additionally, all of the current SCDOT proposals include eliminating the current left-hand turn from Long Point Road onto Belle Hall Parkway.  This is a critical entry artery for our four neighborhoods and dozens of local businesses.  Removing it would cause significant traffic issues for the thousands of residents that use it daily and we believe that a lighted intersection is the best long term solution for traffic and safety.

Please see below for a more detailed outline of our safety and traffic concerns.

Safety Concerns with an Elevated, Flyover Truck-Bridge:

• Reducing truck traffic off Long Point Road by moving it to the front of Grassy Creek, Tidal Walk and the Belle Hall communities places concentrated and elevated truck traffic much closer to more homes than the solution resolves, causing real, inequitable, and lasting harm for our communities.
• Each of the Long Point neighborhoods has a large buffer area that separates Long Point Road truck traffic from their actual homes. Comparatively, these two proposals place this truck traffic right at the front of Grassy Creek, Tidal Walk and Belle Hall homes, with no buffer.
• Debris will rain down directly next to this bridge, which is just 5 yards away from the entrances of Grassy Creek and Tidal Walk neighborhoods, imposing health and safety risks to our children and residents that run and bike daily at these entrances and all along Seacoast Parkway. These safety concerns are well documented with thousands of tire pieces and particulates, sections of full tire treads, loose truck parts, and dust and dirt in the air, on the ground, and next to bridges with high speed truck traffic.  
• Concentrated diesel exhaust pollution increases the potential health risks for everyone living near this bridge, especially children and the immunocompromised in our communities.  (Please see attached medical studies below that address this issue.)
• The projected flyover truck bridge entrance on to I-526 aims straight down Rathall Creek before turning at the front of Grassy Creek and Tidal walk entrances and will deliver noise and light pollution from an elevated position right down the creek between the Hibben and Grassy Creek neighborhoods.
• The noise pollution, specifically from fast moving trucks merging onto I-526 from an elevated bypass (exhaust, air brakes, and general road noise), will have a disastrous effect for the entire front half of the Belle Hall, Grassy Creek and Tidal Walk neighborhoods.
• Wetlands at the end of Rathall Creek are less than 100 yards from the proposed bridge and would certainly be  affected.  These wetlands overseen by DHEC and the ACoE’s are a critical part of our neighborhoods, as well as an additional Conservation Easement that was established by the Audubon Society in conjunction with five other conservation entities, after the Port was established.
• Actual Eminent Domain of Grassy Creek HOA property with the logical expectation of future eminent domain and/or Inverse Condemnation of Grassy Creek homes.
• Actual Eminent Domain of Tidal Walk HOA property, their Amenities Center and pool, and two homes, and the potential inverse Condemnation of other homes.
• Mitigants for flooding, drainage, and runoff from the bridge particularly in lieu of modifications to Grassy Creek and Tidal Walk ponds and retention ponds.

Traffic Concerns:

• Closing the Long Point Road left-hand turn access onto Belle Hall Pkwy would severely disrupt the traffic patterns and greatly increase congestion. The four neighborhoods contain 1,180 homes, 77,800 SF of business and retail space, two schools with 1480 combined students, ECBC Church and Fire House #2.   Using the ITE standard trips per day for Single Family Residences at 10.83 trips plus the ITE standard for Office Space at 11.61 equates to a combined total of 13,779 trips per day.  The plan to have all access to and from these properties, business and schools on an already congested Belle Point Dr and Paul Foster Road (both 2 lane roads), defies logic.
• Fire Station #2 on Paul Foster Rd would have significantly limited egress for emergency calls with this proposal as all four neighborhoods (Grassy Creek, Belle Hall, Tidal Walk, Moultrie Park), both schools (Belle Hall Elementary, Palmetto Christian Academy), one church (East Cooper Baptist), and the numerous businesses entering on Belle Pointe Dr. and Egypt Rd. must use Paul Foster.
• Belle Point Rd traffic already backs up onto Long Point Rd each day, at multiple times, due to the Chick-Fil-A drive through line which wraps around their property on to Belle Point Rd and back to the Long Point intersection.  The owner confirmed they do 2,000 sales a day out of this location. The problem exists without mention of plans for several more traffic-intensive businesses which are soon expected to be built on this road, only exponentially compounding the problem.
• Trucks from the port often park or idle in the middle of Belle Point Rd, blocking the center lane, while awaiting permission to enter the port.  With the backup that occurs at the intersection of Belle Point and Long Point Rd and the Chick-Fil-A traffic, it would be impossible to enter Belle Point Rd. several times a day.  Currently the only way to do so when Chick-Fil-A backs up is to turn into and egress through the opposite direction lane around the line of traffic.
• In addition, the SCDOT plan would route inbound and outbound vehicles from all four neighborhoods plus businesses around a single small Traffic Circle at the intersection of Belle Hall Pkwy and Paul Foster Rd.  Paul Foster is already a heavily used corridor due to the two schools located on Egypt Rd.
• We are very concerned about safety issues for the hundreds of children running, playing, and bicycling outdoors on our roads, sidewalks, parks and playgrounds as well as traveling to and from school on a daily basis with the increase in traffic on Paul Foster.
• This issue is compounded on Sundays when the two biggest churches in Mount Pleasant are holding services, Seacoast and East Cooper Baptist are both located a block away.
• Dozens of businesses, including many offices and restaurants like Waffle House would be greatly and negatively affected by eliminating the entrance to Belle Hall Parkway from Long Point Rd.  All entering traffic would be rerouted to Belle Point and back around the single small traffic circle.

In conclusion, the residents of Grassy Creek, Tidal Walk, Belle Hall and Moultrie neighborhoods, along with our businesses, vehemently oppose all options which include a flyover bridge placed at the front of, or next to our neighborhoods for the reasons we’ve outlined above. The health risks, traffic concerns and quality of life issues far outweigh any and all proposed “positives” of the flyover bridge.  We support our Port and we support the SCDOT in finding a solution that works best for the entire community that surrounds it!

Respectfully,