The Clements Ferry Road Widening Project is a “tale of two phases,” explained County Supervisor Bill Peagler. Construction for phase one, which extends from I-26 to Jack Primus Road, is finally coming to an end after taking eight years to begin. Phase 2, which extends from Jack Primus Road to SC-41, is expected to break ground in late 2019 and be completed by late 2022.
“[Phase 2] is going to be managed by Berkeley County and funded by the most recent one cent sales tax,” said Peagler. “We started collecting money for this project in 2016 and construction will begin in 2019. That’s only three years. There’s more wetlands involved in this section and also includes a bridge replacement. We are trying to do everything that we possibly can to expedite this process.” “A brief description of our preferred alternative is to widen Clements Ferry Road asymmetrically,” said Valiquette, SCDOT project manager for the Clements Ferry Road Widening Project. “In some cases we’re widening towards the north and in some, we’re widening to the south. Those are in effort to minimize the impacts of the project as we go along the corridor. The resulting condition will be a four-lane, curving gutter roadway with a center two-way, left turn lane or a raised planted median, depending on where you are on the corridor, as well as a 10-foot long shared-use path for bicycles and pedestrians.”
“At this point, we’re expecting a three year construction duration,” Valequette said. “Of course, we’re going to continue to look for ways to accelerate that. A lot of that is going to be driven by the necessary relocation of a significant number of utilities that are along the project corridor and also construction of the two bridge sites. There is quite a lot of work to be done in a three year period.”
