9 Grand Live Oaks to Be Removed as Maybank Highway Widening Moves Forward
Charleston County is advancing a long-discussed project to add another outbound lane between River Road and the Stono River Bridge, with construction expected to begin in 2027.
For years, the merge on Maybank Highway near River Road has been one of the biggest traffic pain points for drivers leaving Johns Island.
Now, Charleston County is moving forward with a widening project designed to ease that bottleneck — but the work will also require the removal of nine grand live oaks near the Stono River.
The project would add a second outbound lane on Maybank Highway from River Road to the Paul J. Gelegotis Bridge, creating two travel lanes in each direction along that stretch. Plans also include dedicated turn lanes at Fenwick Hall Allee and a left-turn lane into the Indigo Grove subdivision.
Why the trees are coming down
An earlier version of the widening concept would have required the removal of significantly more trees.
According to a recent city update, revisions that narrowed the proposed travel lanes from 12 feet to 11 feet and reduced median width lowered the number of grand live oaks slated for removal from 21 to nine.
The tree work is expected to be one of the first visible steps in the project. Officials have said the removals are necessary to create enough room for the fourth lane while limiting the overall footprint of the widening.
The debate is familiar on Johns Island, where transportation improvements regularly collide with concerns about preserving the island’s tree canopy, wetlands and rural character.
Charleston Mayor William Cogswell told Live 5 News that planners are trying to balance those environmental concerns with safety and traffic needs, noting that the options along the corridor are limited by wetlands, trees and wildlife.
The project has been years in the making
Maybank Highway improvements are not new.
Charleston County, the City of Charleston and SCDOT have been working on traffic and safety improvements along the corridor for more than two decades. The broader Maybank project has included resurfacing, bike and pedestrian improvements and the Northern Pitchfork connection between Maybank Highway and River Road.
The current widening phase focuses specifically on the stretch between River Road and the Stono River Bridge, where drivers leaving Johns Island currently funnel from two lanes into one.
County Council authorized design work for the additional lane in April 2024 using approximately $1.8 million remaining in the Maybank Corridor Improvements budget.
When will construction start?
Charleston County currently lists the project in the design phase, with final plans, utility coordination and environmental permitting underway. The county’s tentative letting schedule places the Maybank Highway fourth-lane project in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Local officials have said construction is expected to begin in early 2027 and wrap up by late 2027, although the schedule remains subject to permitting and utility work.
The latest estimate puts the project at a little over $10 million, according to Live 5 News.
Traffic relief vs. preserving Johns Island
That tradeoff is likely to drive most of the public conversation.
Johns Island residents have spent years asking for relief from congestion at Maybank Highway and River Road, while tree preservation has become an increasingly prominent issue as development expands across the island.
The county’s own earlier planning documents specifically noted the importance of avoiding large trees where possible in order to preserve the rural appearance and history associated with Johns Island.
This time, the county appears to be moving ahead with a narrower design intended to reduce tree loss while still addressing the bottleneck.
Whether nine trees feels like an acceptable tradeoff will likely depend on who you ask.
What happens next
Tree removal is expected to clear the way for construction of the additional lane, while the county continues final design, permitting and utility coordination.
Once complete, drivers should see two outbound lanes from River Road toward the Stono River Bridge instead of the current merge into one lane.
For an island where traffic concerns have grown alongside development, it will be one of the most closely watched road projects heading into 2027.
What do you think: is removing nine grand live oaks worth the additional lane on Maybank Highway?
