Construction begins on Barberry Woods drainage improvement project

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – Construction crews began work on the Barberry Woods restoration project Wednesday.

The green infrastructure project sits in the tree clearing phase, whereas the construction started in the middle of February. It is expected to bring much-needed flood mitigation to the community as the single entryway neighborhood has created access issues for residents and emergency services.

“The flooding is such a big issue in our neighborhood. When it rains from just a normal storm, it will flood up to our yard and it takes your mulch out.” Caitlin Gorman, a resident, said. “We’re big fans of the construction.”

City officials added that the tree clearing must take place between February and April due to the endangered bat population in the area. This $5.8 million project comes as the South Carolina Office of Resilience and the city worked with the neighborhood to find a nature-based solution.

“This project is mostly focused on reducing the frequency and that duration of that flooding in a current, large storm event. Not in just an afternoon rainstorm, but in a very storm large event,” Matthew Fountain, director of stormwater management, said. “That road into the community can be closed for almost a week. The results after this, even in a very large storm – in a hundred-year storm, it will only be closed for a matter of hours.”

The city estimated that the project will benefit 3,437 residents and 1,687 housing units. The design plans include a meandering stream, wetland storage cells, a passive recreation path and more. Neighbors said a majority of them believe it will bring benefits to their community.

“I think it’s great, a lot of times where it’s not even a bad hurricane it floods in here really bad. If you don’t have a lifted truck, you can’t go in, you can’t go out because there’s only one way. So, I think it’s about time they do something with it,” Kyle Tavino, a resident, said.

Construction is estimated to take ten months with a completion goal of the end of this calendar year.