Due to the continued efforts of Charleston Moves to make our area more bike-friendly, the South Carolina Department of Transportation has relented and will be reconfiguring an important section of Meeting Street to include bike lanes.

Earlier this year, the department indicated that the bike lanes could not be included. One of the original founders of Charleston Moves, Lenny Greene, dedicated time to measure the road width, and found that it could accommodate the lanes.

Charleston Moves has been monitoring this project as bike lanes now exist on portions of East Bay and Morrison Drive and further north on Spruill Avenue. Seeing the possibility that the lanes to the north and the lanes to the south would not connect, Charleston Moves protested SCDOT’s decision. They gathered letters in favor of the lanes from both the Cities of Charleston and North Charleston.

SCDOT officials confirmed the change of heart this week. The median turn lane will be narrowed to 12’. All auto travel lanes will be narrowed to 11’, and there will be a 4.5’ bike lane on either side of the roadway. This project covers the stretch of roadway between Milford, on the southern end, and Spruill, on the northern end. It’s believed the re-paving project will begin in the very near future.

Hats off to SCDOT for listening!