SC Ports To Have 1st Woman Lead a Top-10 US Container Port
The current president and CEO of the SC Ports Authority (SCPA), Jim Newsome, will be stepping down effective next July 2022 after 13 years “at the helm”. He is recognized for expanding and enhancing port infrastructure and operations and making strategic investments that have resulted in a doubling of cargo volumes over a 10-year period. The SCPA board has unanimously approved the appointment of Barbara Melvin, its current COO who first joined the SCPA in 1998, to replace him. She will be the first woman to run a Top 10 container port in the US. Melvin, as COO, has been overseeing daily port operations as well as directing major infrastructure projects, including the deepening of Charleston Harbor. Read more here.
Proposed Widening of I-526 between North Charleston and Mount Pleasant
It’s early days, but the I-526 Lowcountry Corridor EAST project proposes to add four lanes to 13 miles of I-526 between North Charleston and Mount Pleasant. As currently envisaged, it would replace each of the Don Holt and Wando bridges with two parallel bridges, redesign the Long Point Road interchange in Mount Pleasant and relocate numerous dwellings and businesses. At an estimated cost of $4 billion, this would be the most expensive road project in our state. You can find out more and contribute to the official comment period which runs through December 1, 2021 here.
The Lowcountry is Getting a New Park!
Ashley River Park is now being created on 87 acres along the Ashley River near the historic Bacons Bridge in Summerville, Dorchester County, and it’s scheduled to open by year’s end. The park was designed by SeamonWhiteside, a local land planning firm, and is being built by Edcon, Inc., for a total development budget of $13 million. It is intended to cater to people of all ages and interests, with plans to include a playground, a splash fountain, an event pavilion, a terraced lawn, picnic shelters, restrooms, dog parks, a fishing pond with piers, a riverside pier, a kayak launch, a ropes course, a climbing wall, a festival lawn, as well as pedestrian and bike trails, access roads and parking. Find out more and see the conceptual master plan here.
