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| Rider crosses the Ashley amidst 40mph traffic. If the James Island Connector is closed, folks like him will be forced onto even more dangerous routes, including the bridge over the Wappoo Cut. |
This photo was sent to us by someone who observed:
"The attached picture will show exactly why it is better to make the JI connector safer (such as the Cooper River Bridge…..look at the use it gets…yes I know I am preaching to the choir) for cyclists/commuters as apposed to “steering them to other unsafe alternatives such as the Ashley River Bridge. This individual was abiding by the law riding with traffic, though in a dangerous area with traffic backed up, until at the last minute he cut over in front of us to continue on Hwy 17 as apposed to going to Lockwood (coming from West Ashley heading toward Charleston). No hand signals given."
(We might add that the cyclist was probably too busy looking where he was going and too terrified to give hand signals!)
Official Charleston Moves Statement on the Move to Close the James Island Connector
"Idiotic!" "Neanderthal!" These are some of the passionate exclamations we've heard people use to describe SCDOT’s move to close the James Island Connector to cyclists. As many people have put it: “Why would anyone take you off a route that is the safest of only two alternatives and force you onto a surefire death-trap?”
Charleston Moves agrees, and is actively working to turn this crisis situation into a positive, ultimately making our community safer and more welcoming to bicyclists and pedestrians. The fact that the James Island Connector was built 18 years ago with no provisions for bicyclists and pedestrians is an indictment of the shortsightedness of traffic engineers and politicians. We should not still be paying for that horrendous lapse in judgment. A "Connector" should connect the community, not divide it.
Charleston Moves cut its teeth on the campaign to get the bike-pedestrian lane on the Cooper River Bridge. We just got a promising green light on a similar lane over one of the two Rte. 17 Ashley River Bridges. We’re working on the Battery2Beach Route, 33 miles from Isle of Palms through downtown Charleston to Folly Beach.
Those are the high-profile projects. Now, the James Island Connector has become another urgent, high-profile project for Charleston Moves, and we need your support. People of all walks of life use bicycles for transportation, and their need for safe routes and connections must be dealt with! Many of these people are actually compelled to use bikes for financial reasons.
What you may not know is that we have been actively influencing as many as 60 different projects in the greater Charleston area, providing advice and guidance on how they can be improved for bicycling and walking. Much of this work is “under-the-radar,” but will eventually have very positive effects.
We’re now meeting to strategize about the Connector and to establish most effective ways to resolve this issue positively. The issue is complex and deserves more than a knee-jerk reaction. We’ll keep you posted through e-mails like this and on our blog atwww.charlestonmoves.blogspot.
We welcome your constructive advice via e-mail at info@charlestonmoves.org, and we need your ongoing financial support to make our work more effective and our community a better place for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Charleston Moves agrees, and is actively working to turn this crisis situation into a positive, ultimately making our community safer and more welcoming to bicyclists and pedestrians. The fact that the James Island Connector was built 18 years ago with no provisions for bicyclists and pedestrians is an indictment of the shortsightedness of traffic engineers and politicians. We should not still be paying for that horrendous lapse in judgment. A "Connector" should connect the community, not divide it.
Charleston Moves cut its teeth on the campaign to get the bike-pedestrian lane on the Cooper River Bridge. We just got a promising green light on a similar lane over one of the two Rte. 17 Ashley River Bridges. We’re working on the Battery2Beach Route, 33 miles from Isle of Palms through downtown Charleston to Folly Beach.
Those are the high-profile projects. Now, the James Island Connector has become another urgent, high-profile project for Charleston Moves, and we need your support. People of all walks of life use bicycles for transportation, and their need for safe routes and connections must be dealt with! Many of these people are actually compelled to use bikes for financial reasons.
What you may not know is that we have been actively influencing as many as 60 different projects in the greater Charleston area, providing advice and guidance on how they can be improved for bicycling and walking. Much of this work is “under-the-radar,” but will eventually have very positive effects.
We’re now meeting to strategize about the Connector and to establish most effective ways to resolve this issue positively. The issue is complex and deserves more than a knee-jerk reaction. We’ll keep you posted through e-mails like this and on our blog atwww.charlestonmoves.blogspot.
We welcome your constructive advice via e-mail at info@charlestonmoves.org, and we need your ongoing financial support to make our work more effective and our community a better place for bicyclists and pedestrians.
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