Ashley River Crossing Menu
Ashley River Crossing Menu
US 17 bridges over the Ashley River connecting West Ashley to the Charleston peninsula. The 1,733-foot southbound bridge, built-in 1926, has three travel lanes and a narrow sidewalk. The 1,633-foot northbound bridge, built-in 1961, has four travel lanes and no sidewalks. Both bridges are near the end of their structural life and traffic capacity. Neither bridge has good accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists. When the bridges open to allow large vessels to pass, traffic stops in both directions on US 17.
We would like you to consider the information about replacing the bridges and tell us which of the options you would support. You may support any or all of them.
Option 1 - Staged Construction
One option is to build a new bridge in stages. This option allows building the new bridge in stages so that two bridges across the Ashley River are always available. A simple set of construction stages is:
- keep both of the existing bridges open to traffic
- build a new four-lane US 17 southbound bridge just north of the existing southbound bridge
- put southbound traffic on the new southbound bridge and demolish the existing southbound bridge
- build a new four-lane US 17 northbound bridge south of the new US 17 southbound bridge
- put northbound traffic on the new northbound bridge
- demolish the existing northbound bridge
The figure below is an aerial view of this option. The new bridges are shown in yellow. The existing northbound bridges are shown in purple. The green line shows a new separate bicycle and pedestrian bridge.
Option 2- New Location to Minimize Hotel Impacts
A second option is to build a new eight-lane bridge between the existing bridges, as shown on the aerial photograph below. This bridge also has separate north and southbound bridges. West of the river, the US 17 lanes flare around the existing hotel and commercial area impacting existing marshland.
Option 3 - New Location to Minimize Wetland Impacts
The third option is to build the new bridges between the existing bridges but without flaring out on the west side of the Ashley River. This option heavily impacts the hotel and commercial area west of the river but minimizes impacts to the existing marshland.
Summary of Environmental Effects
This table summarizes the environmental effects of the Ashley River Bridge Replacement options. In the analysis, the US 17 team considered twenty-nine potential environmental effects. The table summarizes the differences between the three options. The numbers in the table show the estimated number of relocations, acres, or historic properties affected.
Each bridge replacement option assumes that the Ashley River Crossing Bicycle and Pedestrian are in place.
Each bridge option assumes a high-rise bridge that causes visual impacts.
Ashley River Bridge Crossing | ||||||
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| OPTION A |
| OPTION B |
| OPTION C |
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| Staged Construction |
| New Location to Minimize Hotel Impacts |
| New Location to Minimize Wetland Impacts |
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HUMAN ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS |
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Relocations – residential units |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
Relocations – non-residential properties |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
Total number of relocations |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| 0 |
Land acquisition (in acres) |
| 6 |
| 6 |
| 1 |
Conversation area |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
Schools |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
Parks |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
Greenways |
| 1 |
| 1 |
| 1 |
Community Facilities |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
Neighborhood Cohesion |
| No Effect |
| No Effect |
| No Effect |
Environmental Justice |
| No Effect |
| No Effect |
| No Effect |
Historic Architectural Resources |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
Archeological Resources |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
Compatibility with zoning and land use plan |
| No Effect |
| No Effect |
| No Effect |
Traffic noise |
| Traffic Noise will Increase |
| Traffic Noise will Increase |
| Traffic Noise will Increase |
Visual / Aesthetic |
| The landscape will change a lot |
| The landscape will change a lot |
| The landscape will change a lot |
Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs) |
| 5 |
| 4 |
| 5 |
Permits needed |
| Yes |
| Yes |
| Yes |
Construction cost – opinion of probable cost |
| $125,000,000 |
| $125,000,000 |
| $125,000,000 |
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NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS |
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Threatened Endangered Species |
| Some Species may be effected |
| Some Species may be effected |
| Some Species may be effected |
Essential Fish Habitat |
| Essential Fish Habit will be Disturbed |
| Essential Fish Habit will be Disturbed |
| Essential Fish Habit will be Disturbed |
Section 404 Waters of the US – wetlands |
| Some Effect |
| Large Effect |
| No Effect |
Section 404 Waters of the US – streams |
| No Effect |
| No Effect |
| No Effect |
Land and Water Conservation Fund sites (section 6f) |
| None |
| None |
| None |
US Navigable Waters – rivers and open water |
| River Navigation will Improve |
| River Navigation will Improve |
| River Navigation will Improve |
US Navigable Waters – critical area wetlands |
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5 ACRES |
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6 ACRES |
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3 ACRES |
Prime Farmland |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |