Daniel Island business owners hopeful about faster travel with bridge reopening

DANIEL ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) – After 10 months of construction, a new replacement bridge over Beresford Creek on Daniel Island reopened early Friday morning.

The City of Charleston saw a need for this bridge replacement after a 2019 inspection found the bridge could not withstand the excessive weight limits of trucks, buses, and other similar vehicles that used that busy road every day.

The $2.8 million project started in August 2023 and was only expected to take nine months to complete. However, construction crews faced a 2-week delay because of soft soil on the site.

For the past ten months, residents have had to take detours down Clements Ferry Road, Seven Farms Road, and River Landing Drive.

The new bridge reopened at 7 a.m. Friday for commuters and features two travel lanes which officials say will lessen traffic for the community. It will also have a pedestrian-bike path that will be available to use later this summer.

Rick Coe, who owns a gym called WeightSpace located off Clements Ferry Road, says that when the bridge was shut down it added 15 to 20 minutes to people’s commute no matter what time of the day. He says he is happy for the community to be connected again.

“That bridge is the local community connection between really the two halves of this zip code, so, 29492 is about 20,000 residents, and almost evenly spread between Daniel Island and then up here in the Cainhoy peninsula,” Coe says. “Having that bridge again reconnects our community, reconnects all of the residents in this zip code, and so we’re really looking forward to it.”

Because of the detours and added commute time, Coe says that the bridge closure has become an obstacle for some of his clients. He says some potential clients he has reached out to have told him to call them again when the bridge opens back up.

Coe also said that roads could be an issue for the growth and new developments coming to the Daniel Island area.

“Roads are a challenge and I think the changes on the big bridges going across the Wando and the Cooper, they’re not going to happen fast,” Coe says.

Todd Miller, who owns a bar called Community Crafthouse located on Point Hope Parkway, says they felt the impact of the bridge closure as well.

“It really made it difficult to have one way in and one way out,” Miller says. “Getting those folks, you know there is over four thousand residences on DI, getting those people over here to the Clements Ferry side could be a challenge, so, we’ve really, you know, felt it as you know, residents going to DI and hanging out and having our friends come over as well.”

Miller says he also has concerns as the population in the Daniel Island area continues to grow and more homes are being built.

“The only concern is the same one that everybody seems to have which is you know, can the roads and infrastructure handle this much influx of new population?” Miller says. “I think the governments are trying to catch up with the infrastructure, but it’s going to be a challenge.”

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