Future Developments
Developers continue to build more homes further and further down Ashley River Rd. A great deal of controversy was created about overdevelopment when the City of North Charleston annexed the 6,600-acre tract known as Watson Hill. The tract was sold by MeadWestvaco to private developers who then requested the annexation by North Charleston. The town of Summerville tried to rush an annexation to block North Charleston which ended in a court battle. Summerville later rescinded and backed away from its annexation attempt. The slump in the economy, 2008-2010, forced these developers to sell and the property was repurchased by MeadWestvaco. A plan for lower density development was then presented to North Charleston. It is obvious that more houses equates to more traffic on the already congested two-lane road. The people living in the homes want the road widened for them. Developers want it widened to justify building more homes. However, expanding the road will require the removal of many of the oak trees. Because the oaks are the reason that the highway was granted National Scenic Byway status, removal of the oaks will cause it to lose the status and lose National Scenic Byway Federal funding for maintenance.
A recent public meeting suggested that if development is to occur, instead of widening Ashley River Road to alleviate congestion, Glenn McConnell Parkway, also known as SC Highway 461, could be extended beyond its terminus at Bees Ferry Road. This is possible since Glenn McConnell Parkway runs parallel to Highway 61.
Read more about this topic: South Carolina Highway 61
Famous quotes containing the words future and/or developments:
“He will calmly front the morrow in the negligency of that trust which carries God with it, and so hath already the whole future in the bottom of the heart.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The developments in the North were those loosely embraced in the term modernization and included urbanization, industrialization, and mechanization. While those changes went forward apace, the antebellum South changed comparatively little, clinging to its rural, agricultural, labor-intensive economy and its traditional folk culture.”
—C. Vann Woodward (b. 1908)