CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - A West Ashley resurfacing project has left drivers confused and Charleston County apologizing.
Henry Tecklenburg Drive was resurfaced on May 10 with new lane markings drawn on the black top that don’t include direction on where drivers are and aren’t allowed to be.
On Monday morning people began complaining the lanes aren’t clearly marked, which allows drivers to be in place they shouldn’t be without realizing it. The new markings show a car-sized bike lane, two regular traffic lanes, and a regulation sized bike lane on the road with nowhere for street parking for the businesses. Charleston County addressed that the lack of markings is confusing and admitted that the painting was done incorrectly.
The “large bike lane” on the left side is supposed to be on the right and include street parking spaces. She says the room for parking is why the lane is so large. Since the painting was done wrong the company will be fixing the lane markings as soon as they can.
Charleston County Spokesperson Kelsey Barlow says she knows this is confusing and even frustrating but wants people to know that there is a solution coming in the near future. Henry Tecklenburg Dr. will be resurfaced and repainted again within the next week to make up for the incorrect lane markings that were previously done.
“Definitely lessons learned from this project. I thought we would have it ready to go I know it’s confusing,” Mackenzie Kelley, the Charleston County Paving Project manager says.
The Dermatology and Laser Center Practice Administrator says this project took her and her employees by surprise. She says they have a contract with the City of Charleston that lets them use eight street parking spaces for their employees and patients. The current layout of the road no longer supports that, she says she wishes they had more notice that this project was going to hurt her practice.
“The road had been repaved repainted no instructions, nothing indicating where employees park, or where traffic goes,” Ginger Greene says.
Barlow says once the project is redone, the Center will have their spaces back and the bike lanes will be a regular size. She says the road will need to be repaved and repainted again but not at the taxpayer’s expense. The project doesn’t have a clear start date but she says it will hopefully be finished and done correctly around the third week of May.
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