"It's specifically a reduced thickness only anticipating bikes would be on it."
That's how city staff described the newest piece of path on Isle of Palms at the October 13 Ways and Means Committee meeting. The piece is a strip of pavement 6 feet wide and 700 feet long that doesn't exist yet. When it's built, it will connect the rebuilt multi-use path on Waterway Boulevard to the public dock at the Isle of Palms Marina. For now the island has a finished path along the marsh that stops at the edge of a parking lot, plus a proposed construction contract, still waiting on City Council approval, that would close the gap this winter.
The two pieces are on different schedules because they were built for different reasons. The Waterway path was funded and designed as flood protection. The link to the water comes from a marina parking-lot repaving project.
The Path Was Designed to Hold Back Tides
The City's ribbon-cutting announcement tells the project's origin plainly. A nor'easter in December 2023 pushed tidal water from the Intracoastal Waterway into the marsh side of the island near Waterway Boulevard. The City then started looking at ways to keep that water out.
The fix came in two phases:
- Phase 1: new berms along the Harbor Golf Course. They add a barrier against extreme tides and storm surge, and they blend into the fairways and grass well enough that most people walk past without noticing them.
- Phase 2: the path itself. It's raised in places and widened to about 8 feet in most areas, with check valves added to stop tidal water from backing up through the drainage system.
Engineering firm Thomas & Hutton describes the route as 1.7 miles. Live 5 describes the corridor as running from 21st Avenue to 41st Avenue. The flood role explains the price. Live 5 reported on July 1, 2026, that the long-running Waterway sidewalk and flood-mitigation project had grown from just over $1.1 million to about $7 million. Residents the station interviewed called the replaced path safer and much better for walking and biking. A City finance report for the October 13 meeting lists $1.6 million for the Waterway project in the current year. Part of that is a $1 million grant moved over from the Palm Boulevard project, and a separate $625,000 county request is still pending.
The path follows Waterway Boulevard, the edge the City set out to protect, and ends at 41st Avenue. The marina sits on the other side of a parking lot.
Why the Last Stretch Comes With the Parking Lot
The connection to the dock wasn't part of the path project. It showed up as a change order on the City's marina parking-lot contract, a job the City had already put out to bid to repave and regrade the lot at 50 41st Avenue.
City Administrator Douglas Kerr's October 12 memo breaks down the package. Five companies bid. Whitestone Construction came in lowest, and staff recommended awarding it this bundle:
| Piece of the marina contract | Amount |
|---|---|
| Base bid: demolition, grading, drainage, paving, ADA parking, curbs, gates, fencing, signage | $296,000 |
| Alternate 1: Barracuda stormwater treatment unit | $35,000 |
| Alternate 2: ribbon curb | $34,000 |
| Addendum 1 work missed in the original bid | $51,263 |
| Change order: 700-foot bike path to the public dock | $49,950 |
| Change order: relocate the dumpster enclosure | $5,980 |
| Recommended award | $472,193 |
The bike path accounts for about $50,000 of a project that has grown to roughly $7 million, yet it's what finally connects the route to the water. The City budgeted $500,000 for the marina lot work and picked up another $150,000 through the state budget process. That gives $650,000 in total, which covers both Whitestone and a separate Dominion Energy charge of $5,313 to move a power pole.
Its route through the lot is set. Staff told the committee the bike path will run down the lane where the parking stops are now, and those stops will move about 5 feet closer to 41st Avenue. Going from the road inward, the order will be road, then parking, then path. The new strip will be a little narrower than the Waterway path, about 2 inches of surface over stone, and isn't built to carry trucks.
The Calendar From Here
The path and its missing link reach their milestones months apart:
- October 13, 2026. The Ways and Means Committee moved to approve the Whitestone award, with no one opposed.
- October 27, 2026. City Council's regular fourth-Tuesday meeting was the next step for the award. Council's action is posted on the City's agendas and minutes page.
- Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 10 a.m. The Waterway path officially opens with a ribbon cutting where Waterway Boulevard meets Forest Trail.
- January 1 to February 28, 2027. The contractor's work window at the marina. The bid requires all of the work to finish inside that window.
A September 23 email from the project engineer mentioned hoping to finish "around December." The bid package, though, already set the January and February window, and that window is the one in the documents contractors bid on. The bid explains why the window is tight: "Because the site is an operational restaurant, time is of the essence." Staff told the committee that permits weren't in hand yet but were expected within 30 days, and certainly before construction starts in January.
What Waits at the End of the Path
When the gap closes, the path will end at one of the few spots on the island where anyone can walk out over the water for free. The City's public dock page says the dock is open daily from sunrise to sunset. People can launch kayaks and paddleboards, fish, sit on the swings and watch the sun set over the marsh.
The City's marina page describes 50 slips, a double-wide public boat ramp and the Marina Outpost store. The marina operator's site lists a boat club, boat rentals, kayak and paddleboard rentals, fishing charters and Barrier Islands Eco Tours on site. The restaurant the bid refers to is Islander 71. The City's bid documents require Islander 71 signage, and in October the City was working with the restaurant on its request for more lighting in the lot. The Post and Courier has written about the restaurant's spot on the water along 41st Avenue as a place to catch the sunset.
During construction, the bid requires the contractor to keep temporary access, traffic control and an ADA-compliant public route open the whole time. The City hasn't announced any closures of the ramp or dock for the January and February work.
Who Shares the Pavement
An 8-foot path brings walkers, runners, strollers and bikes closer together than the old sidewalk did, and the City's rules for that mix are still being written. Here's what's on the books now:
- E-bikes. The City's e-bike guidance says e-bikes on public paths need a permanent label showing power and speed. Riders should yield to pedestrians and walk their bikes at pedestrian crossings.
- Golf carts. The City's golf cart page limits carts to eligible secondary roads in daylight and bars them after dark. It doesn't set a separate rule for the Waterway path.
- Rules under discussion. E-bike policy was on the Public Safety Committee's October 6 agenda. Earlier committee minutes floated ideas such as a 12-mph limit and keeping motorized vehicles off the path, but none of those has been adopted.
These summaries are general information, not legal advice. The City's pages are the authority, so check them before you ride, especially since the path rules may change after the committee finishes its work.
The finished path opens November 19. Until the marina lot is rebuilt, a walk along the marsh still ends in a parking lot at 41st Avenue. For now, the dock is a short walk across the lot.
If you're weighing a home on the marsh side, where the Waterway path and the marina dock are part of everyday life, Island House Real Estate can walk the stretch from Forest Trail to 41st Avenue with you and talk through how each part of it fits the way you plan to live. Find Your Island: Schedule a Private Consultation.
