Dear Island Neighbors, 

Spring has indeed sprung. 

If you haven’t been convinced by the runners and azaleas and pollen, I direct your attention to: the traffic weekend before last, especially Sunday, March 22. I’ve not spoken to anyone who recalled worse congestion here, even a few old-timers!

If you’ve lived here for at least a year, you already know to expect to have your spring and summer weekend trips off and on the Island affected by beach traffic, typically, inbound traffic in the mornings and midday, and outbound mid to late afternoon. But the weekend in question was several orders of magnitude worse than that.

For starters, the inbound traffic was still backed up on Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant as far as Moultrie Middle School...at 2 PM! And that’s not to mention some of the MP neighborhood streets near Coleman and Ben Sawyer Boulevard being jammed with folks attempting to circumvent the aforementioned jams on those main thoroughfares. That gives you an idea of the numbers of folks who were heading our way.

Once the outbound traffic picked up mid-afternoon, outbound vehicles were backed up Islandwide. Contributing to the situation, the Ben Sawyer Bridge had to open for boat traffic at least four times in the afternoon. While the bridge openings are usually much briefer than they seem if we are stuck while running late for a flight or something downtown, the impacts on backed-up traffic can be much longer-lasting than the actual duration of the bridge opening. One rule of thumb in the traffic engineering biz is that for every minute traffic is stopped, it takes four minutes to recover, even longer in some cases (More on what controls the bridge openings later.)

Looking at maps with real-time traffic info, one could also see that things were getting backed up on the MP side at Rifle Range Road.

Shortly after that weekend, our Chief of Police Glenn Meadows met with leadership from the Mount Pleasant Police Department and the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office to coordinate weekend traffic flow improvements. He has this report:

“Mount Pleasant has adjusted weekend traffic signal timing to accommodate increased outbound traffic, and those changes are now in effect. As needed, and if calls for service allow, a Mount Pleasant officer may also be assigned to manually control the traffic lights at Rifle Range Road to further improve traffic flow leaving the island.

“Beginning the weekend of April 4–5, 2026, we will deploy a message board on Ben Sawyer Boulevard between Chuck Dawley Boulevard and Rifle Range Road. The sign will inform visitors that parking is limited due to ongoing road repairs (stormwater work) and to expect significant delays.

“Also starting that weekend, we plan to temporarily reverse traffic flow on the block of Station 22 ½ Street between I’on Avenue and Middle Street, from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM, on weekends (with adjustments as needed). This measure is intended to help alleviate congestion on I’on and Atlantic for outbound vehicles, while the deputies are managing traffic at the Station 22 ½ intersections. In addition, we will increase staffing from two to four county deputies to assist with traffic control. Captain Herman Martin with the Sheriff’s Department, who has years of experience helping us with beach traffic, has already conducted a site review to better understand the plan.”

Thanks to Chief Meadows and his department, and our partners with the Mount Pleasant Police Department and the Charleston County Sheriff’s Department, for this great team effort!

NOW ABOUT THOSE BRIDGE OPENINGS
As a reminder, on weekends and federal holidays, the Ben Sawyer Bridge opens when needed only on the hour, between 9AM and 7PM, and on demand at other times. On weekdays that are not federal holidays, the bridge opens at any time on demand, except that it will not open between 7 and 9 AM and between 4 and 6 PM. Exceptions: the bridge opens at any time when requested by a federal government vessel, commercial vessel, or vessel in distress.

Why don’t we just change those weekend hours to cut down on the number of traffic-clogging openings? That would take an act of Congress. Literally.

You can find the Ben Sawyer opening schedule in the Code of Federal Regulations (33 CFR 117.911(c), to be exact!).  Congress did it and only Congress can change it.

During those on-demand times, you may have seen the bridge open for one boat, then close, then open for another boat just a few minutes later. Do you wonder why the bridge tender doesn’t just wait for the second boat time to arrive before opening, so that both boats can go through at the same time?

There’s a simple answer: $25,000. That’s the maximum fine a bridge tender can be hit with for not “promptly and fully” opening a bridge over a federal navigable waterway (like the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway) when a vessel rightfully requests passage. Like the schedule, this is also a matter of federal law.

HUG A TREE, OR TWO!
Join us at Stith Park on Friday, April 24th from 9am to 5:30pm to celebrate our 10th anniversary as a Tree City, USA - a designation bestowed on the Town by the National Arbor Day Foundation. Most of the action will begin at noon and later. Come select a free tree or flowering pollinator plant to take home with you as part of our big plant giveaway, browse the book sale hosted by the Friends of the Library, order lunch from one of the food trucks, and enjoy live music under the oaks. There will be a number of environmental organizations setting up tables towards noon, including the Charleston Waterkeeper, Clemson Extension, the South Carolina Native Plant Society, and so many others!

See you around the Island!

Pat O’Neil
Mayor
843 670 9266
oneilp@sullivansisland.sc.gov