Copyright postandcourier
NORTH CHARLESTON — Advocates have pushed for decades for bike and pedestrian safety improvements along the 70-year-old bridge that connects North Charleston to West Ashley, but time and time again they’ve been met with roadblocks despite support from local officials. The North Bridge, formally known as the World War II Memorial Bridge, runs almost a half mile along S.C. Highway 7. In the 1970s, existing sidewalks on the bridge were removed to add more traffic lanes. Since then, the bridge has had no pedestrian or bike lanes in either direction. A narrow curb divides the six lanes of traffic. Still, pedestrians and cyclists regularly travel along the dangerous bridge because it’s the only way to cross the Ashley River for miles. In some cases, the consequences have been deadly. Over the last 10 years, five people have been killed by cars as they attempted to cross the state-owned bridge. Traffic along the route is only increasing. According to the state’s Department of Transportation traffic count, roughly 47,900 cars drove across the bridge each day in 2024, compared to 43,700 a decade ago. “Given the history of the bridge already, we know it's deadly,” said Charleston Moves Executive Director Katie Zimmerman. “We know people need to get across it by modes other than a car, so we've got to fix this.” While progress on an concrete plan has been slow, elected officials have expressed support for moving improvements forward. On Oct. 20, the Charleston Area Transportation Study committee, made up of elected officials in the tri-county area, approved a resolution that encouraged SCDOT to include bike and pedestrian accommodations to North Bridge improvements. The letter also requested the bridge be replaced instead of rehabilitated.
