On Maybank Highway between River Road and the Stono River, two lanes carry drivers onto Johns Island toward Kiawah, Seabrook and Wadmalaw. Going the other way, toward James Island and the Paul J. Gelegotis Bridge, there is one lane. That imbalance is the bottleneck the county has now committed to fixing. The first deadline on the project has nothing to do with rush hour, though. It comes from the hibernation season of a small, insect-eating bat.
The trees along that stretch have to come down before December 15. After that date, the federal protections for the northern long-eared bat make clearing much harder until mid-February. So the most visible step on Maybank this year is squeezed into roughly five weeks, while the paving itself is scheduled for 2027.
Four Lanes Where Three Fit
The fourth lane, where the merge is now, has been talked about for years. Earlier plans kept stalling over the grand live oaks that shade this part of Maybank. The version moving ahead now started with a "skinny lane" idea Charleston Mayor William Cogswell pitched in May 2025.
The county got state approval for 11-foot lanes in place of the usual 12 feet. That applies to all four lanes on the stretch, not just the new one. The narrower road cuts the number of grand live oaks coming down from 21 to nine, along with some smaller trees. Alex Owsiak, the county's capital programs manager, told The Post and Courier that the narrower lanes should also slow traffic on this 40 mph stretch, where he said speeding has been common.
"The reality is you're all going to lose a couple," Cogswell told Live 5 News, adding that crews were checking the trees' health to see which ones might be expected to die within a few years anyway.
Why the Date Is December 15
The northern long-eared bat was added to the federal endangered species list in 2023, after white-nose syndrome killed more than 97 percent of the population, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service figure cited by The Post and Courier. In South Carolina, its range includes the coast. December 15 through February 15 is when the bats are less active and federal restrictions on disturbing their habitat apply.
That calendar explains why the clearing contract moved so fast. Owsiak put it plainly in the same Post and Courier report:
"That's why we wanted to get this (contract) out right away."
On October 1, County Council's Finance Committee unanimously recommended a $192,775 tree-clearing contract with Lawrence Construction of Moncks Corner. Charleston County's transportation sales tax project dataset, extracted October 27, shows the contract awarded to Lawrence Construction, with tree staking and clearing limits set to begin October 22. It also shows a preconstruction meeting planned for the week of October 26 and utility relocation work being coordinated with Dominion Energy.
For anyone driving Maybank before the deadline, the county has said there will be no lane closures between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Then the Road Waits for Its Contract
In the county's sequence, the clearing makes way for the construction bid, and that bid is still in progress. The county's Maybank Highway project page lists utility coordination and environmental permits as underway, with the construction package at Procurement.
The county's own schedule for the outbound lane looks like this:
Phase | County schedule |
|---|---|
Final plans | Finished August 31, 2026, after extended state historic preservation review tied to the Fenwick Hall District |
Project advertisement | Through about December 10, 2026 |
Construction contract signed | By about January 9, 2027 |
Construction | About January 10, 2027 to January 9, 2028 |
Substantial completion | By about March 10, 2028 |
When the plan was announced in September, officials described completion as fall 2027 to Live 5 News and as the end of 2027 to WCBD. The schedule above runs into early 2028. Either way, the outbound merge will stay as it is for most of the next year, through the winter and the 2027 summer beach season.
The money also has a history. The roughly $10 million for construction comes from the sales tax county voters approved in 2004. It was originally set aside for the Mark Clark Extension, the multi-billion-dollar road across Johns Island that was shelved after voters rejected a sales tax referendum to pay for it. Funds once meant for a new highway across the island are now paying for one 11-foot lane on the road residents already use.
The Other Way Off Is Already Different
While Maybank waits for its contractor, the island's other main route is changing now. The roundabout at Main, River and Chisolm roads opened to traffic on October 19. It is part of the U.S. 17 and Main Road Improvements Project. "There's more work ahead, but this is meaningful progress," County Council Chairman Joe Boykin said in the county's announcement.
As of the county's October 27 data extract, Segment A of the Main Road corridor, from Bees Ferry to River Road, was about 50 percent built, with right-of-way acquisition about 96 percent complete. According to the county and the latest Main Road corridor newsletter, these are the next milestones:
- Ramp 3, the connection to northbound U.S. 17, expected to open by the end of 2026.
- Foundation work for the interchange, drilled shafts and concrete piles, targeted for completion in the fourth quarter of 2026.
- The U.S. 17 overpass spur bridge carrying Main Road, which was set to begin soon as of August.
- A shared-use path on the Limehouse Bridge, which was in design as of August, and a left-turn lane at Old Pond Road, whose right-of-way plans had been finalized.
The whole Segment A contract, a $354,312,450 design-build job by the Archer-United-Banks Joint Venture, is forecast to finish September 27, 2028. That puts both exits on a similar finish line in 2028, with Main Road delivering its pieces one at a time along the way.
How the Two Exits Line Up This Winter
Taken together, the next few months overlap more than they line up:
- Now through December 15: the window for clearing trees along outbound Maybank between River Road and the Stono River bridge, with no lane closures between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.
- By year-end: Ramp 3 is expected to give Main Road drivers a direct connection to northbound U.S. 17, while the new roundabout at Main, River and Chisolm handles the island end.
- December 15 to February 15: the bat window, when federal habitat restrictions are in effect.
- Around January 10, 2027: Maybank construction is scheduled to begin under the county's timeline, inside the bat window and after the tree clearing it depends on.
The single outbound lane will also carry this season's holiday traffic. The Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park opens Friday, November 13, and runs nightly from 5:30 to 10 p.m. through December 31, according to Charleston County Parks. For Johns Island families, the evening trip there starts at the same Maybank merge the new lane is meant to fix, and this year that merge will look the same in December as it did in October.
Asked to describe Maybank in one word, residents told Live 5 "too full," "terrible" and "needs help." City Councilman Jim McBride's comment in the September 22 video by the island's city and county council members was shorter still: "This is a long time in coming." The next date on that wait is December 15, and it was set by a bat.
If you're weighing how Johns Island's roadwork affects your own daily routes, from which exit works best now to what changes as each piece opens, the team at Island House Real Estate follows these projects closely and is glad to talk them through. Find Your Island: Schedule a Private Consultation.
