Charleston County hosted an informal “drop-in” style Public Information Meeting (PIM) on Thursday, August 31, 2021, from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm at the Exchange Park in Ladson, South Carolina. The purpose of the PIM was to introduce the project to the community, gather initial comments from the public, identify needs for the project, and help identify concerns about the improvements or impacts to the natural and human environment. 74 people signed in at the in person meeting (total attendance was 90 people). Along with the in-person meeting, a virtual meeting was available on the project website throughout the official public comment period, from August 31st to September 30th. During this time 56 people visited the online meeting (website had 383 visits during the comment period), and 55 comments were received. All comments received will be evaluated and included in the project record. Thank you to everyone who participated in one of these meetings.
Over the last several months, the project team read all of the comments and prepared responses to them, which will be sent out in January 2022. The team also continued traffic studies, development of alternatives and began field surveys.
Over the next several months, the project team will be developing alternatives based on technical analyses of traffic, roadways, environment, and public comments. As this project progresses, Charleston County will continue to explore ways to improve the project and to minimize impacts to the surrounding human and natural environments.
A second public meeting is anticipated to occur in Spring 2022 to introduce the preliminary build alternatives to the public and other stakeholders. This meeting will take place after the preliminary alternatives are identified.
Phase 1 will conclude with the determination of Feasible Alternatives for more detailed evaluation and a recommendation for level of NEPA documentation.
