City of Charleston looking to acquire part of King Street

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) — A portion of King Street may soon be owned by the City of Charleston, after the city discussed a deal with the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

The section the city hopes to own would include the area from Line Street to John Street. Once owners, official say they will help by improving safety and maintenance in the area.

Most roads across the state are owned and maintained by the South Carolina Department of Transportation. For purposes of safety and upkeep, the City of Charleston has taken back ownership of certain streets, mostly near the peninsula, and now on King Street.

“This allows us to program the street differently even down to the barricades that people see on the weekends. The reason there are those big orange barricades on the weekends is because that’s what required by SCDOT. If we want to do something different, we can do it differently if it’s under our control. We can widen the sidewalks, we can add bike paths,” said Logan Mcvey, the Chief Policy Officer for the City of Charleston.

Tuesday afternoon, members in the Traffic and Transportation Committee voted to take back a portion of King Street, with no added cost to taxpayers, The request has been approved by SCDOT, and officials say if the move is approved by full council, residents will see major improvements.

“Going out and painting and striping roads, crosswalks so they’re more visible, making pedestrian and bike access safer, all of the things that at a local level we can do more quickly rather than waiting on the department of transportation,” said Mike Seekings, the Head of Transportation and Traffic Committee.

Officials say city ownership of the roads also helps cut through red tape: meaning improvements will be made more quickly.

“While we’re the 13th smallest state in the country by area, we’re the 4th largest department of transportation, so a request coming from Charleston can really be put in line, whereas we can jump on it really quickly,” said Seekings.

The City of Charleston already owns the portion of King from John Street to Calhoun, and the city may consider taking ownership of other roads after this.

“I think the city is largely interested in trying to control as much of its own destiny as possible because Mayor Cogswell pushes for us to move quickly and wants results on behalf of the residents. Bureaucratic hurdles are something the mayor is trying to get over and around as quickly as possible and get them off the track,” said Mcvey.

The city will vote for final approval of ownership at their full council meeting in two weeks.