Isle of Palms City Council meets Thursday to discuss potential connector changes

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCBD) – Isle of Palms City Council plans to discuss proposed plans to change the IOP connector.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation has presented plans to expand bike lanes and potentially reduce the speed limit from 55 to 45 mph.

IOP council members have told News 2 the plan includes replacing the connectors pavement markings to make accommodations on the bridge for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The plans involve reducing the center median from 10’ to 4’, expand the existing pedestrian lanes from 4’ to 5’, installing a 4’6” bicycle lane and a 3’6” buffer between the bicycle lane and the vehicular lane.

The state’s proposal is to make these changes on both sides of the connector.

SCDOT added that “the re-striping plan [also] adds 3-feet of additional space to the outside of each vehicle travel lane for emergency services.”

Some Isle of Palm City Council members say this could be push back from last years parking restrictions during the pandemic.