Car Accident Attorney inJohns Island, SC

Few things are as inspiring and beautiful as the centuries-old Angel Oak tree found on Johns Island in Charleston. Thought to be at least 400 (possibly even 500) years old, the tree and its gargantuan and gorgeous tangle of limbs are a must-see for any visitor to the Lowcountry.

For centuries Angel Oak thrived as a hidden secret only the locals knew about. It sat on the land of a local estate owned by the Angel family — thus, the name, Angel Oak.

Then, in 1989, Hurricane Hugo ripped through the area and Angel Oak was badly damaged by the storm. At that point, it was wide open to visit and largely unprotected. Scores of locals and visitors alike had already begun to make the pilgrimage out to Johns Island to visit the tree. All were devastated by the storm's toll on the landmark.

The City of Charleston has owned the park and the tree since 1991, two years after Hugo wreaked havoc on its well-being. However, the tree has remarkably recovered over the ensuing 30 years since that big storm. And its popularity has increased exponentially.

When it comes to hurricanes and tropical storms, it stands to reason that Angel Oak has weathered quite a few of them in the last four centuries. Today, its trunk has a circumference measuring nearly 26 feet.

Standing next to this giant southern live oak is an honor everyone should experience at least once.

Fortunately, Angel Oak is open to the public seven days per week (with the exception of holidays).

It's now surrounded by a large park for visitors to enjoy views of the enormous tree from all angles. The park also provides some much needed protection from encroaching development in the immediate area.

When you visit, be sure to stop by the gift shop where you'll find keepsakes about the Angel Oak and the Lowcountry. Admission to the park is free, but donations are accepted at the gift shop. Park hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The gift shop closes daily at 4:30 p.m. Learn more from this link on the Charleston, SC website.

The next time your taste buds are demanding some fresh-from-the-boat seafood, head to the Lowcountry to a restaurant that's a little off the beaten path, but oh-so worthy of the journey. If you love it fresh, then this seafood joint in South Carolina is just for you:

At Roadside Seafood, now located on Johns Island, the food speaks for itself.

The Split Decision, for instance, (seen here) is a Po'Boy that's half shrimp and half oysters. How many times in the past have you been torn between the two? The Split Decision is an ideal solution to your Po'Boy woes.

Roadside Seafood is found on Bohicket Road on the way out to Kiawah and Seabrook.

And if you are visiting the area for any reason, you undoubtedly have your sights (and appetite) set on some delicious FRESH seafood. Roadside is a must-visit.

From Bam Bam Shimp to Crabcake Bites and Fried Calamari, the appetizer menu has a perfect mix of selections to whet your appetite for the main dish.

You can also indulge in soups and salads, most perfectly paired with seafood of some kind. (The Lowcountry She Crab Soup and the Oyster Caesar Salad are two great examples.)

For your main dish, select from the many seafood tacos on the menu.

Or skip right on by to the house specialties and the dinner specials. From sampler platters to stuffed flounder and more, you won't leave hungry or disappointed.

One of the best things about Roadside Seafood is the friendly service.

The staff members always seem to be smiling — even in the kitchen!

Grab a basket of seafood and head outside on mild days.

There is plenty of cozy seating on out the patio. And if it's just too blazing hot to enjoy your meal outside...

Then grab a seat in the dining room and prepare for a feast!

Ready to check it out? Roadside Seafood is located right on Bohicket Road/Betsy Kerrison Parkway just south of Charleston.

For the best (and freshest) doggone seafood in the Lowcountry, head to Roadside Seafood on Johns Island. You'll be happy you made this scenic drive! Learn more from their official website - and see the menu here. It's open seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Address: 3966 Betsy Kerrison Parkway, Johns Island, SC, 29455

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Members of the Johns Island community could be looking at the construction of a second hotel and living space.

New Leaf Builders is requesting to build JUBILEE on the corner of Maybank Highway and Wildts Battery Boulevard. The development would take up 13.3 acres.

The City of Charleston passed the plans through in a 7-0 vote on July 19. It is the latest in a series of conversations involving development on Johns Island.

Rich Thomas has lived on Johns Island for 16 years and says it is hard to recognize the lay of the land.

“The city and county have not paid any attention whatsoever to how Maybank and Johns Island in general can handle these developments,” Thomas says. “When you add up 100 housing units, commercial restaurants and things, it turns into a huge problem.”

Councilman Jim McBride says the development is classified as a Planned Unit Development, or PUD, meaning fewer units will go on the property than originally thought.

Developers say they intend to create a “vibrant, human-scaled, pedestrian-friendly community” and “transform neglected and underutilized natural resources into a beautiful hospitality village destination.”

The area is considered a central location for future public transit and connectivity. McBride says it would help to support the island’s future fire station and Trident hospital.

The plans fit the mold for a mixed-use residential office and low-density residential district. JUBILEE would become a spot for 140 families total, split into 75 hotel rooms and 65 residential cottages.

It is unclear how much each unit will cost or how much it will be to build the complex.

Each building would sit at a height of either three or four stories.

Darcy Whalen lived on Johns Island for six years but now resides across the Stono River in James Island.

Out her window, she still sees the impacts of traffic and growth bleeding into her community.

“Infrastructure is huge. We’re a little backwards, that we should’ve had that first before these things were approved,” Whalen says. “I don’t begrudge getting a hotel. There are a lot of people coming onto Johns Island and Seabrook. I think we have been done a disservice.”

Developers emphasized that Charleston has doubled in population since the 1970s. They claim the Charleston City Plan to develop the area over the next 10 years fits within their plans to build up Johns Island.

Charleston County Council will tentatively vote on the project on August 30.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Hilton Head Island is looking to replace the U.S. Highway 278 bridges that provide its only link to the mainland, and current plans call for new bridges that will have not two but three lanes in each direction on and off the island, for a total of six lanes. So why does Johns Island — which has a smaller population and a desire to keep part of its rural character intact — need 16 bridge lanes on and off it?

The answer should be obvious: It doesn't. And that's yet another reason Charleston County voters should reject the proposed half-cent transportation sales tax that is expected to be on the ballot this fall.

County Council is expected to finalize the referendum wording Tuesday and is regrettably expected to proceed with making the extension of Interstate 526 from West Ashley to James Island the only priority project; its price tag, including financing costs, would be more than $2.4 billion, almost half the total raised by the new tax. The project also was among the least popular in an informal survey earlier this year.

Council should reject this plan for many reasons: that enormous price tag; its threat to the conservation of what remains of Johns Island's rural character; the project's failure to ease congestion (it will only move it to different choke points); the county's recent duplicitous history in reviving the project it deliberately left off the 2016 sales tax vote; and the county's poor track record on making progress on projects on its 2016 list.

One of those projects is a new flyover at Main Road and U.S. Highway 17, an enormously frustrating route for many trying to get on and off Johns Island. We suspect that lack of progress has been deliberate because the project holds the promise of addressing the congestion that 526 extension proponents claim that project is needed for. And that's where the comparison to Hilton Head is apt.

Six lanes is fine for Hilton Head even though its population is almost 30% more than that of Johns, Wadmalaw, Kiawah and Seabrook islands combined and Hilton Head has 66% more housing units. Current traffic volumes on the Limehouse and Stono bridges combined are about 14% higher than on the Highway 278 bridges, which suggests we could use a couple more lanes. Fortunately, that's cheap and easy to accomplish.

Both the Paul J. Gelegotis and John F. Limehouse bridges were built large enough to accommodate four lanes of traffic: The Gelegotis Bridge, commonly called the Stono bridge, is striped for all four lanes, but the one lane leading to the bridge from Johns Island effectively makes it a three-lane bridge from the perspective of traffic flow. The Limehouse Bridge is striped for only two lanes, but relatively little money would open the full capacity of these bridges to eight lanes, a 60% increase from what they are now.

Of course, why spend relatively little money to solve the problem when you can spend more than $2 billion and erase any pretention that we're interested in keeping Johns Island's rural character? Voters will ultimately answer that question in November.

There's one other commonality voters might want to think about. The Hilton Head debate has revolved in part around whether there should be one new six-lane bridge or two three-lane bridges, but some have noted the larger six-lane bridge won't address the primary cause of congestion on the island: clogged intersections along U.S. Highway 278. If I-526 is extended on to Johns Island, we're sure the same thing will be said there; just substitute "River Road" for Highway 278.

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JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - One accident-prone Johns Island intersection is set to receive $5 million in safety upgrades from the state.

With nearly 8,000 vehicles traveling where Brownswood Road meets River Road daily, according to the South Carolina Department of Transportation, government officials say they knew this needed to be a focal point for change.

In a team effort, the Charleston County government, the Charleston County School District, SCDOT and state Rep. Spencer Wetmore (D-Charleston County) and Rep. Leon Stavrinakis (D-Charleston County) are working to get this project going.

“River Road has been a dangerous spot for people for a long time,” Johns Island resident Brent Mattox said.

Stavrinakis and Wetmore are the two statehouse reps who asked for this funding.

“Traffic and safety concerns out there are certainly nothing new,” Stavrinakis said.

Where River Road meets Brownswood is home to 24 accidents and one death over the last five years, according to SCDOT.

Both Mattox and Stavrinakis say they’re not surprised.

“We’ve seen some damage from time to time and there was at least one time where a bridge, its guardrail, was seemingly damaged by a wreck and took months to fix,” Mattox said.

“Sometimes citizens email me pictures of overturned vehicles,” Stavrinakis said.

And with a new Charleston County elementary school already under construction right down the road, Stavrinakis says he knew the funding was needed now.

“We’re so far behind in managing traffic in that corridor given the incredible growth,” Stavrinakis said.

Now, $5 million from the state will go towards a roundabout at this intersection to fix the current issues and alleviate future school traffic, which could start as early as next August.

But the current road plan doesn’t have the roundabout finishing for at least another six years.

“My goal for this is to happen like asap,” Stavrinakis said. “...We need to push as hard as we can to make sure that this happens, if at all possible, simultaneously with the school construction and opening.”

Mattox says he doesn’t think the construction itself will make the situation much better in the meantime.

“I guess that’s the price of progress,” Mattox said.

The roundabout document plans state the preliminary engineering could cover the next three-and-a-half years with right-of-way acquisitions and utility relocations taking another year-and-a-half after that. Charleston County officials are expecting construction to take one year, finishing by the end of FY2031.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.