Town Council approved the conceptual plan for the Dills Bluff sidewalk project on a 4 to 1 vote last Thursday. Councilman Garrett Milliken voted in opposition.
The conceptual plan described a feasible route and three phases. Last June, Council voted unanimously to spend $11,500 to develop the plan. Finally, it was ready. By approving the plan, Council has endorsed the proposed route and phasing. The proposed route is down Dills Bluff to Fort Sumter Drive, and then along Fort Sumter to Harborview Road.
No timeline for constructing any portion of the project has been developed or approved. The conceptual plan included construction cost estimates. The estimated total for constructing all three phases is approximately $1 million. Phase I alone is over $400,000.
In my view, the next step is to do the design for Phase I. "Design" is the detailed construction plans that would make Phase I "shovel ready." The cost will be between $40,000 and $50,000. Given this amount, there will be call for bids and the contract will come to Council for approval.
Phase I will complete the sidewalk along Dills Bluff between Camp Road and Seaside Lane. There are already plans for constructing sidewalk along Dills Bluff from Fort Johnson past Camp to the edge of the marsh before Midvale. The segment between Fort Johnson and Camp is being constructed by Charleston County as the final segment of the Fort Johnson sidewalk project. The segment between Camp and the edge of the marsh is being constructed by Pulte Homes as part of the development agreement for the Preserve at Dills Bluff. We are fortunate that these first segments are being completed at no cost to the Town's public works budget.
I anticipate asking Town Council to contribute Town funds to the construction of sidewalks on Dills Bluff. However, because of the high construction cost, especially where Dills Bluff is bordered by marsh, the Town will need to obtain outside funding--TST (Transportation Sales Tax) or CTC (Charleston Transportation Committee) have been our sources for past public works projects. We may be eligible for a Community Development Assistance Grant as well for this first phase.
The process is slow at best and we have a number of other public works projects in the pipeline already. Sadly, experience proves that it will be some years before construction on Phase I begins.
When Phase I is scheduled for construction, it will certainly be time to do the design work on Phase II. This will continue the sidewalk along Dills Bluff from Seaside Lane to Fort Sumter. While the cost of doing the design work to make Phase II "shovel-ready" should be reasonable, the estimated construction cost is high--another $400,000. Again, the problem is constructing sidewalk adjacent to the marsh. We will again need to look to outside funding.
And finally, when Phase II is completed, we will get to Phase III--connecting the Dills Bluff sidewalk to the sidewalk on Harborview Road along Fort Sumter at reasonable cost. The approximate $150,000 cost is close to other projects the Town has completed.
Because a signalized crosswalk is planned for Fort Sumter and Harborview Road, that is the logical location for the connection between the sidewalk on Dills Bluff and the new sidewalk on Harborview Road. That was the conclusion of the engineers developing the concept plan.
I am not willing to hazard a guess when Phase III will be completed. But, as I said before, I think we need to move important projects forward step-by-step.
