Letter: Fix root problems on Lady’s Island

All the recent letters regarding Lady’s Island traffic miss the mark. The solution is neither a bridge to U.S. 17 nor more experts (experts got us here, remember?), but a willingness by the city and county to get involved, with the community, in making solutions happen.

Traffic is a symptom, not a cause. Lady’s Island is congested because development has been allowed to go forward without the infrastructure to support it. The city and county need to start pushing back against unsupportable development, saying “no” to developers when it’s clear that further development contributes to other, unresolved problems.

Left alone, the situation gets worse. Lady’s Island’s roadways are already stressed. Stormwater management is marginal. Continued residential development will place further strains on school populations and traffic. And commercial development will continue, with the city and county, not the developers, absorbing the lion’s share of the costs for infrastructure necessary to support it.

The essential problem is reflected in what’s lacking about the traffic study: next steps.

Lady’s Island needs the city and county to start paying attention to it, and a commitment to act. Neither has committed to the study. There is no plan, no priorities set, no focus on finding the funds to fix the problems, and no commitment by the city or county to work together with the community to find and implement solutions.

Lady’s Island is suffering because problems were allowed to fester. We can’t wait any longer; solutions will take time to take hold. For now, elected officials need to step up to the plate, get their respective governments on board, and focus on making something good happen for Lady’s Island — not just with traffic congestion, but the underlying causes.

This story was originally published March 8, 2017 at 10:42 AM with the headline "Letter: Fix root problems on Lady’s Island."