Johns Island traffic and road projects: closures this week and what's being built

This is the island’s traffic page and its road-projects page. Up top: what’s closed this week, the roads on and off the island, and where to check traffic live. Below that: where each road project stands, who’s in charge and the source behind every date. We update it as things change, and the newsletter’s “Roads & growth” section carries the week-to-week news.

Traffic this week

Nothing is posted for island roads. As of Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, there are no announced closures, detours, lane shifts or night work on Johns Island roads. We checked SCDOT’s road conditions list, SC511, Charleston County’s news releases and the City of Charleston’s News Flash. The newsletter refreshes “Traffic this week” every Thursday.

The roundabout at Main, River and Chisolm roads. Charleston County scheduled it to open at 6 a.m. Monday, Oct. 19, after closing River Road from 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, to finish paving and stormwater pipes, with a detour via Old Pond Road to Main Road. As of Oct. 29, we haven’t found a County notice confirming it opened on schedule, or one announcing a delay.

Main Road Segment A. The County lists the project as under construction on Main Road between Bees Ferry Road and River Road. It hasn’t posted lane closures or night work for it this week.

Maybank Highway widening. No work is posted. The County’s project page still lists the bid package as pending (details below).

On the drive downtown:

• James Island Connector, Saturday, Oct. 31: closed for the James Island Connector Run. Closures start at 6 a.m. SCDOT lists the Connector reopening at 11:30 a.m., and the City of Charleston says all roads should reopen by noon. The City says drivers can still use Folly Road, the Wappoo Cut bridge and the Ashley River bridge. The Wappoo Cut bridge won’t open for boats from 5:30 to 11:30 a.m. that morning.
• Wappoo Cut bridge on Folly Road: SCDOT lists right-lane closures in both directions for a routine inspection, 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., through Friday, Oct. 30.
• Next week, US 17 over the Ashley River: SCDOT lists right-lane closures on the US 17 Ashley River bridges for inspections, starting at 10 p.m., on Nov. 2 through 5. More are listed for Nov. 17 through 20.

Getting on and off the island

Two roads cross the Stono River to the rest of Charleston: Main Road, over the Limehouse Bridge to US 17 in West Ashley, and Maybank Highway, over the Stono River bridge to James Island. Traffic to and from Kiawah, Seabrook and Wadmalaw islands uses the same two roads, as the Post and Courier has noted.

• Main Road (S-20) runs north from Maybank Highway, through the River and Chisolm roads intersection and over the Limehouse Bridge, to US 17 (Savannah Highway). From the River and Chisolm intersection to US 17 it has one lane each way; the County’s Segment A project will widen that stretch to two lanes each way, according to the project site.
• Maybank Highway (SC 700) heads east past River Road and over the Stono River bridge to James Island, where it meets Folly Road.
• River Road is the island’s other main north-south road. It runs from Main Road at the Chisolm Road intersection, across Maybank Highway, to Bohicket Road where Betsy Kerrison Parkway begins. SCDOT numbers it S-54 north of Maybank Highway and S-91 south of it, according to its traffic count data. It doesn’t leave the island; it feeds Main Road and Maybank Highway.
• Bohicket Road and Betsy Kerrison Parkway are the way to Kiawah and Seabrook. South of Maybank Highway, Main Road becomes Bohicket Road, then Betsy Kerrison Parkway, which leads to a roundabout at Kiawah Island Parkway, according to Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s directions.
• To Wadmalaw, take Maybank Highway west from Main Road. The Charleston Tea Garden, for example, is at 6617 Maybank Highway, Wadmalaw Island.

For the hurricane evacuation route, see our hurricane guide.

Where does traffic back up?

• US 17 at Main Road. “That intersection at 17 and Main not only has a long traffic queue, but it’s a dangerous intersection,” Herbert Nimz, the County Public Works engineering manager, told Live 5 in April. The Segment A flyovers are meant to fix it.
• Maybank Highway heading off the island. The roughly half-mile stretch from Fenwick Hall Allee to the Stono River bridge has only one outbound lane, according to a Post and Courier editorial. The County’s fourth-lane project adds a second one.
• Maybank Highway at River Road. City Councilmember Jim McBride considers it one of the worst intersections in the city, according to the Post and Courier. The northern pitchfork lets drivers skip the traffic light there, the County says.
• A crash at either crossing. On the night of July 9, 2026, a serious crash closed Maybank Highway at the Stono River bridge in both directions, and drivers were told to use the Limehouse Bridge on Main Road instead, Live 5 reported.

How much traffic do the main roads carry?

These are SCDOT’s estimates of 2025 average daily traffic (AADT), from its statewide count data and Charleston County sheet.

Road	Segment (SCDOT station)	Vehicles a day, 2025
Maybank Highway	River Road to Riverland Drive, across the Stono River (269)	39,700
Main Road	Bees Ferry Road to Chisolm Road, across the Stono River (345)	32,700
US 17	Main Road to Dobbin Road, West Ashley (113)	51,900
Maybank Highway	Main Road to River Road (267)	20,700
Main Road	Chisolm Road to Maybank Highway (347)	18,800
Bohicket Road	Maybank Highway to Edenvale Road (349)	17,600
Bohicket Road	Edenvale Road to River Road and Betsy Kerrison Parkway (346)	14,200
River Road	Maybank Highway to Plow Ground Road (357)	11,100
River Road	Main Road to Maybank Highway (355)	6,700
Maybank Highway, toward Wadmalaw	Main Road to Bears Bluff Road (265)	6,700

SCDOT’s 2025 data has no count station on Betsy Kerrison Parkway, which is a local road.

Live traffic tools

For what’s happening right now, use SC511. For planned work, check SCDOT’s road conditions list and sign up for County and City alerts.

• SC511 is SCDOT’s traffic site: a map of incidents, construction, message signs and traffic cameras, with a trip planner, plus an app for iPhone and Android. A free My511SC account adds email and text alerts and saved cameras. SCDOT doesn’t record camera video, so there’s no footage of past events.
• Cameras: As of Oct. 29, 2026, none of SC511’s 798 cameras is on a Johns Island road, Main Road or Maybank Highway. The closest on the drive off the island are “I-526 E @ MM 10 (US 17),” where I-526 meets US 17 in West Ashley; “Hwy 17N @ Ashley River Bridge”; and “Hwy 171 S @ Wappoo Cut Bridge,” on Folly Road.
• SCDOT road conditions lists construction, maintenance and weather closures on state-maintained roads, including closures scheduled weeks ahead. Maybank Highway, Main Road, Bohicket Road and River Road are state roads. Betsy Kerrison Parkway is a local road, so it won’t show up there. SCDOT also announces bigger closures in its news releases.
• Charleston County’s CHSAlerts, formerly Citizen Alerts, sends texts, calls or emails about emergencies, including “significant traffic and transportation disruptions or major road closures,” according to the County’s announcement. The County posts road project notices on its news releases page.
• Main Road project emails: the Main Road Corridor contact page has a box to get project announcements by email.
• The City of Charleston’s Notify Me sends its Emergency Alerts and police CPD Newsroom posts by email or text, and its News Flash by email. You need a City website account to subscribe. The City posts closures such as the Connector Run on its News Flash.

Status at a glance

Project	What it is	Status (Oct. 29, 2026)
Main Road Segment A	Flyover ramps from US 17, a bridge over US 17, widening and a roundabout, Bees Ferry Road to River and Chisolm roads	Under construction; due Sept. 27, 2028
Main, River and Chisolm roundabout	Part of Segment A	Scheduled to open Oct. 19, 2026
Maybank Highway fourth lane	Outbound lane from River Road to the Stono River bridge	In design; bid expected Q4 2026
Northern pitchfork	Connects Maybank Highway to Fenwick Hall Allee and River Road	Open since March 25, 2024
Southern pitchfork and roundabouts	Second pitchfork road plus roundabouts on Maybank Highway and River Road	Not funded; on the Nov. 3 ballot
River Road at Brownswood Road	New roundabout	Bid expected Q1 2027
Burden Creek bridge (River Road)	SCDOT bridge replacement	Right-of-way spring 2027; construction early 2028
Main Road Segment B	River Road to Maybank Highway	Inactive
Main Road Segment C	Bohicket Road, Maybank Highway to Betsy Kerrison Parkway	Work stopped in 2025
I-526 (Mark Clark) extension	Interstate extension to James and Johns islands	Terminated May 12, 2025

Main Road Segment A: the US 17 flyovers

Segment A covers 2.4 miles of Main Road, from Bees Ferry Road across US 17 to River and Chisolm roads. It adds flyover ramps from US 17, a spur bridge over US 17, a second lane each way, a new bridge over the CSX railroad and the roundabout at Main, River and Chisolm roads.

• Who: Charleston County, paid for by the 2016 transportation sales tax. Archer-United-Banks Joint Venture holds the design-build contract, awarded Sept. 10, 2024.
• Cost: The contract is worth $354.3 million. The County has also cited a projected funding total of $445 million.
• When: Anticipated completion is Sept. 27, 2028, according to the project’s August 2026 newsletter.

Latest: The County scheduled the roundabout at Main, River and Chisolm roads to open Oct. 19, 2026 (see “Traffic this week”). The August newsletter expected the Ramp 3 connection to US 17 northbound in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the project site says work on the new CSX railroad bridge begins in fall 2026.

For walkers and cyclists: In April 2025 the County approved a barrier-separated path up to 10 feet wide across the Limehouse Bridge, alongside four 11-foot lanes, for about $10 million. The path, nearly three miles long, will connect to the Bees Ferry Road, Glenn McConnell Parkway and West Ashley Greenway paths.

Maybank Highway’s fourth lane

The County will add an outbound lane on Maybank Highway between River Road and the Stono River bridge. That leaves four 11-foot lanes, with turn lanes at Fenwick Hall Allee and a left turn into Indigo Grove.

• Who: Charleston County Public Works.
• Cost: About $10 million, according to the Post and Courier in January and Live 5 in September. A Post and Courier story on Oct. 2 put it at $12 million.
• Money: The transportation sales tax. In January 2026 the County also proposed moving about $78 million left over from the cancelled Mark Clark extension to nine road projects, this one among them.
• Status: As of Oct. 29, 2026, the County’s project page says it’s in design, with final plans due shortly, utility coordination and environmental permits underway, and the bid package pending. Its tentative bid date is the fourth quarter of 2026. In January, the County had aimed to advertise for bids in August or September.

When will construction start? Reports differ:

Source	Start	Finish
County deputy public works director Devri DeToma, in the Post and Courier, Jan. 22, 2026	January 2027	Summer 2028
Live 5, Sept. 24, 2026	Early 2027	Fall 2027
Post and Courier, Oct. 2, 2026	October 2026	Not given
City Councilmember Jim McBride at the City’s Oct. 6 State of Our City meeting, quoted by Live 5	“This month” (October 2026)	Not given

We’ll report the actual start when crews show up.

The pitchforks

Northern pitchfork (open): a County road connecting Maybank Highway to Fenwick Hall Allee and River Road. It opened March 25, 2024.

Southern pitchfork (not funded): the second half of the plan. At its Oct. 6 State of Our City meeting on Johns Island, the City of Charleston presented the Maybank Highway and River Road pitchforks and roundabouts as a $65 million project that depends on the transportation sales tax. The southern pitchfork is on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot’s project list.

What’s on the Nov. 3 sales-tax ballot for Johns Island?

On Nov. 3, 2026, Charleston County voters decide whether to approve a half-cent sales tax for up to 25 years, or until it raises $4.25 billion: $2.702 billion for roads, $858 million for transit and $690 million for greenbelts. The County says it would continue the existing half-cent tax that began in 2004. These projects on the list touch Johns Island or the drive to it:

• Maybank Highway southern pitchfork and roundabouts
• Intersection work at Maybank Highway and Riverland Drive
• A roundabout at Main Road and Mary Ann Point
• US 17 South widening from Dobbin Road to SC 162

The Mark Clark extension isn’t on the list. The full wording is in the County’s ballot questions document. Hey Johns Island doesn’t take positions on ballot questions.

River Road

• Brownswood Road roundabout: tentative bid date in the first quarter of 2027. The County lists its funding as a state appropriation. About $5 million in state money was sought, and the roundabout was also on the County’s January list for leftover Mark Clark money.
• Burden Creek bridge: SCDOT plans to replace the River Road (S-91) bridge over Burden Creek to correct structural deficiencies. Today’s bridge has two 10-foot lanes and about a foot of paved shoulder; the new road will have two 12-foot lanes. Right-of-way work is set for spring 2027 and construction for early 2028. SCDOT held a public meeting on April 23, 2026.
• Johns Island Elementary roundabout: the school district, SCDOT and the City built a roundabout on River Road in front of the new Johns Island Elementary School, which opened Aug. 12, 2025.

Main Road Segments B and C (on hold)

• Segment B (Main Road from River Road to Maybank Highway) is listed as “currently inactive.” A separate $1.2 million state earmark covers a Main Road sidewalk from Chisolm Road to Maybank Highway.
• Segment C (Bohicket Road from Maybank Highway to Betsy Kerrison Parkway): the County stopped work after a February 2025 staff update.

What happened to the I-526 extension?

The Mark Clark Expressway extension would have connected I-526 at Savannah Highway in West Ashley to Johns Island and the James Island Expressway. It’s cancelled:

• June 8, 2007: The original funding agreement was signed.
• Jan. 10, 2019: An amended agreement capped the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank’s share at $420 million, for a four-lane parkway with 35–45 mph speeds.
• November 2024: Charleston County’s sales-tax referendum failed.
• December 2024: A state legislative committee revoked the $420 million.
• May 12, 2025: The Infrastructure Bank’s board voted unanimously to terminate the agreement.

SCDOT is keeping the $41 million worth of land it bought for the route, and the County received a refund of about $3.1 million. The extension isn’t on the 2026 ballot.