Charleston Moves

We believe in a connected Charleston, and approach advocacy via multiple channels. We provide input on proposed projects, plans and policies. We serve on committees, attend public meetings, and coordinate public input. We encourage agencies to incorporate bicycle/pedestrian/transit user data into their project assessments, and our staff and volunteers conduct bike/ped counts, interviews and surveys at key locations. We share the data we collect with our advocates, relevant planners, and elected officials for project design, audits, and even grant applications to fund infrastructure. We set up outdoor pop-ups, tables at events, and utilize social media, email and earned media for citizens to engage, sign petitions, and give testimonials on projects and action items. This ensures a strong and diverse voice for multi-modal infrastructure; we partner with varying organizations to build coalitions around priority projects. We communicate with decision makers through meetings, presentations, questionnaires, walking audits and bike rides to educate them on the importance of safe multi-modal infrastructure, update them on competitive funding opportunities for projects, and provide salient policy changes. Physical demonstrations of the large-scale citizen support that exists for safe multi-modal infrastructure is vital to our work. For the 2024 year, 92 cents of every dollar spent went to our charitable programs.What We Are Doing:Bridges Front-and-Center Bridges should serve as connectors instead of barriers. For the new Ashley River Bicycle & Pedestrian Bridge, we have coordinated with the City of Charleston on an ad hoc basis as they updated designs and contracts for the new Ashley River Bicycle & Pedestrian Bridge. Intersections for the project have gone through technical review, as has an updated permit for lessened environmental impacts. Our par-ticipation on the City's ad hoc wayfinding committee for citywide trails has resulted in signage along the West Ashley Greenway and Bikeway, connecting the future bridge to the existing bike/ped network. Collaborating with our coalition and Charleston County, we assisted with the County's third and fourth federal grant applications to USDOT for a Better North Bridge. Our work included many hours of community outreach and engagement, meeting with state legislators, compiling letters of support, and encouraging stakeholders to reach out to their Congressional offices. We also conducted research for the grant application, encouraged the County to vote in favor of applying, helped with the merit crite-ria narrative review, researched other funding opportunities, and participated in the grant debriefing with federal staff. We have also continued advocating for projects that will ultimately connect to the Better North Bridge. Locally, we made sure that Better North Bridge was included on a proposed coun-ty sales tax referendum project list, regardless of whether the referendum was approved by the vot-ers. We also participated in the public process to oppose an industrial boat manufacturer from getting a rezoning in order to construct its facility at the foot of the proposed Better North Bridge. We also engaged with SCDOT on their repair plan for Wonders' Way on the Ravenel Bridge, and supported the City of Charleston and the public on the installation of the new Beresford Creek Bridge with a multi-use path. Complete Streets We mobilized and advocated for robust multi-modal space and design in key projects, and our en-gagement led to improved designs, additional funding and/or leveraged opportunities.We hosted bicycle and pedestrian counts for key intersections along Rifle Range Road in Mount Pleas-ant, and Durant Avenue in North Charleston. We reviewed SCDOT's Road Safety Audit reports for Dorchester Road, the Crosstown, Highway 61, Savannah Highway, and Folly Road. Charleston Moves has formally supported Mount Pleasant Way, a planned town-wide bicycle and pe-destrian system. We have submitted support letters for greenbelt funding for specific segments, and encouraged public input during comment sessions, as well as participation in community meetings, for areas including: Mathis Ferry Phases 1 & 2, Long Point Trail, Rifle Range Trail, Venning Trail. During the year, funding was awarded from the state for Phase 1 of Mathis Ferry Trail, and the region's first bike box as well as other complete streets improvements were installed at Coleman Boulevard/Patriots Point Boulevard/Magrath Darby Boulevard. Also installed were the Mount Pleasant Way segments for All American Boulevard and the Hamlin Trail. We have continued our campaign of petition signatures, survey responses, interviews and counts in support of our request for the City of North Charleston to develop a master bicycle and pedestrian plan. We met with Mayor Burgess and staff to talk through potential funding opportunities via grants. We also coordinated with a volunteer designer who pulled together cross-section design examples for Spruill, Montague, and Rhett Avenues, as well as Park Circle. We participated in the Thriving Communi-ties tour of Reynolds Avenue and Remount Road. We advocated for a set of municipal matches for a potential federal grant for Rethink Folly Road, and participated on the Arctic Avenue improvements proposal with City of Folly Beach. We worked with the City of Charleston to get participation and engagement for their public meeting and comment period on a Meeting Street Road road diet. We also started a petition to show a groundswell of support, and participated in stakeholder meetings and design conversations. We engaged on Morrison Drive safety improvements, as well as continued to support King Street im-provements. We walked the Riverland Drive corridor with project staff and council members. Policy UpdatesWe successfully encouraged the City of Folly Beach to invest in a Safety Action Plan and to host a public meeting and survey, and we coordinated with the City of Charleston to learn more about their federal SMART grant for Calhoun Street. We participated in the transportation workgroup for the Palmetto Air Quality Collaborative to develop the South Carolina Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP). We engaged in BCDCOG Charleston Area Transportation Study (CHATS) meetings, as well as Low-country Rapid Transit transit oriented development (TOD) planning meetings. LeadershipCharleston Moves provides strong leadership and resources for several proposed projects and plans throughout the county, ensuring people who ride bikes, walk and take public transit are represented throughout the planning, designing and funding processes. In addition to what is listed in specific afore-mentioned projects, we participate on the following committees and working groups:> Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG) Charleston Area Transportation Study (CHATS) Transportation Enhancement Committee> BCDCOG Downtown Charleston Transit Study Technical Advisory Group> BCDCOG LCRT Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Stakeholders> BCDCOG US 52 Bus Rapid Transit Feasibility Stakeholder Working Group> City of Charleston Meeting Street Road Stakeholder Group> City of Charleston Zoning Rewrite Technical Advisory Committee> City of Folly Beach Arctic Avenue Stakeholder Committee> Rethink Folly Road Steering Committee> Palmetto Air Quality Collaborative transportation workgroup> SCDOT Momentum 2050 Stakeholder Committee> SCDOT Road Safety Audit Stakeholder Committees > Union Pier Community Advisory CommitteeMany of these committees address portions of our signature 32-mile Battery2Beach (B2B) route.Critical MassWe rallied public participation in a broad array of project proposals, including but not limited to: > Johns Island: Main Road Segment C public engagement > Downtown: City of Charleston Peninsula Plan open houses and public input; CARTA's Downtown Transit Study survey and public meetings > West Ashley: Ashley River Road safety improvements petition; Ashley Landing public meeting > Folly Beach: senior transportation survey participation > North Charleston: Highway 78 virtual meeting and comment period; Airport Connector Road public meeting and comment period > Mount Pleasant: Highway 41 SCDHEC permit comment period > Regional: Charleston County Climate Action Plan public input + council votes; Palmetto Air Quality Collaborative (PAQC) webinars; SCDOT Statewide Rail Plan virtual meeting and survey; SCDOT East Coast Greenway Feasibility Study public comments; SCDOT Statewide Multi-Modal Plan survey