The I-526 Extension, otherwise known as the Mark Clark Extension, is a plan to extend Interstate 526 in Charleston, South Carolina, over to the areas of James Island and Johns Island from West Ashley. With a cost of over 2.2 billion dollars (with $1.78 billion being paid by Charleston County), 51% of people who were a part of the public hearings for the expansion back in 2021 had disapproved of it, yet as recently as February of 2023, the Charleston County Council has taken steps to begin funding for the project with 75 million dollars being approved towards which.  

Both the City of Charleston and Charleston County must consider preventing this expansion, and there are many reasons as to why below:

1. Incredibly high cost: The cost of the I-526 extension, as mentioned before, is 2.2 billion dollars, which could be used towards vital projects like the Lowcountry Rapid Transit System. Just for reference, the length of the I-526 extension is 9.5 miles, meaning that 231,000,000 dollars are spent per mile. Average cost for a light rail system? $201,000,000 per mile, 30 million dollars cheaper than a mile of the Mark Clark Extension. Why is this important? Well, one of our city's most important projects, the Lowcountry Rapid Transit System (LCRT), could be able to use some of this money to greatly improve the transit issues we face in Charleston metro, especially for those in North Charleston who lack accessible transportation systems. Imagine what we could do with other projects as well. New pedestrian bridges, a new Don Holt Bridge, a light rail system, and even new ferry systems are all projects that could become something better than we could have ever expected with this money.
2. Displacement and disruption of people and services. As per the Mark Clark Extension's Supplemental Environment Impact Statement (SEIS), the recommended alternative that the study found, alternative G, would displace 13 residential buildings and 7 businesses altogether. In addition, the study area included 565 families that were living below the poverty line, hence being negatively impacted by the Mark Clark Extension with traffic noise and pollution.

    

   The minority populations within the study area are also incredibly high in places that would be impacted by the extension as well. This extension would only bring more division to our urban area rather than bringing us together, and if we want to move forward regarding equality within our city, the extension needs to be stopped.
3. Displacement of the environment. Although this reason may seem quite obvious to many people and may be overlooked, the sheer detrimental impact of this extension is clear once we look at what impacts it would have on our city's environment.  31 acres of displaced wetlands. That is equivalent to the land area of two and a half Waterfront Parks being directly impacted by the Mark Clark Extension. 8.72 of these acres would be classified as being "critical areas", meaning that they are protected due to their fragile nature, in which their fragility will only be perpetuated by 526. The impacts that are brought upon the land itself are even more extensive: 103 acres of woodlands and forest. 103 acres that would be directly impacted by the extension. Just for a frame of reference, the map below shows just exactly how extensive 103 acres is: Imagine within that yellow rectangle were sprawling forests, encompassing the rural areas of our county. Then, imagine an interstate being built directly through it. That's what would occur with this project going forward. What about more urban forests and parks though? Surely, it wouldn't impact our public parks, right? Sadly, that's not the case. The James Island County Park would have 32 acres removed from it to account for the extension. Additionally, traffic noise would be a major issue for the park, practically ruining the secluded and peaceful nature of what makes the park so special. It should also be worth mentioning that the interstate would go right by the campgrounds, making them vulnerable to traffic noise and thus ruining camping at the park. The county park is not the only exception, as Fenwick Hall and the West Ashley Greenway would be influenced by the extension as well. 
4. Increased urbanization. We all know Charleston is growing at an incredibly rapid pace, and many of us would like to slow down said growth. Yet, the Mark Clark Extension would only exacerbate this rate of development and urbanization, and there is a clear example of this occurring back during the late 1980s here in Charleston. Daniel Island. Daniel Island, before the creation of 526, was much like Wadmalaw Island or portions of Johns Island. Rural farmlands being connected by a loose network of roads. Then, in 1989, the interstate was finished. It was then only a matter of time before Daniel Island became what we know it today.

    

   Why is this such bad news for us nowadays? Well, back then, Daniel Island did not have a significant population base, and there weren't any transportation issues regarding the island. But for places like Johns and James Island, which have populations over 10,000, incredible cultural significance, and traffic problems, they do not have any room for urbanization. Put simply, expanding I-526 would turn Johns Island into James Island, and James Island into Daniel Island.
5. Increased traffic congestion. You may be thinking: how would expanding an interstate increase our traffic issues? Well, put simply, providing more infrastructure for stuff like cars, inevitably makes people use said infrastructure more. So, if you build more roadways and highways, you get more cars on the road. More cars mean, in the long run, more traffic. This is a map showing the future traffic congestion of Charleston in 2050 with and without the Mark Clark Extension. Notice how the traffic on Savannah Highway, Harborview Road, the James Island Connector, and the Johns Island portion of Maybank Highway are predicted to have either the exact same or worse traffic congestion with I-526 extended rather than not being extended. Eventually, we will get to a point where the traffic on I-526 would necessitate another sort of extension, bringing us back to where we started. Also, the extension has been shown to not have any significant impact on travel times between places, such as only saving 36 seconds if I-526 was extended and you were traveling from West Ashley to James Island.

By signing this petition, we are changing the course of what Charleston's future looks like, and it is a course that we don't have long to take. As soon as that first shovel is placed into the ground for extending 526, there is no turning back.

Let us put away the shovels, and put forward Charleston.