No logic to Charleston projects, SC utilities, MUSC innovation, teacher salaries | Letters

As I sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic each morning on Glenn McConnell Parkway, I believe we’ve essentially wasted $25 million widening the parkway since we did nothing about the actual bottleneck created at the Magwood Drive intersection. “Why,” you may ask? The answer is that the intersection with Magood is maintained by the S.C. Department of Transportation. The Post and Courier has published several articles about how confusing all of this is, but the real question that comes to my mind is how have we allowed bureaucracy to get so out of control? Forget the logic doing road improvements such as Glenn McConnell knowing that the bottleneck isn’t going away. Think instead about Clements Ferry Road, which eight years later is still being widened. More recently, we’ve heard that plans for widening Interstate 526 wouldn’t be finished for at least 15 years. Is this not completely out of control? Do we really want to have traffic get 15 years worse before there’s relief? To put this in perspective, the Ravenel Bridge was designed and built in four years. If you think that’s fast, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, the world’s longest continuous bridge over water at 24 miles, took only 14 months to build. Our government has become as stagnant as the roads on which we drive. At what point is enough enough? MICHAEL MEULI Charleston Utility needs Instead of attacking power companies in South Carolina for needing to increase the ability to provide us with the electricity, gas and water that we demand daily, we need to step back and think about why. Well, our state’s population has increased by more than 1 million in the past 20 years, and our economy has grown with many new companies enjoying our attractive business climate; hence, the demand increase for utilities. Perhaps we should look to the S.C. Department of Commerce and its mission to bring new businesses to the state. And the state’s tourism push for making South Carolina so attractive that tourists are visiting in droves and many return as residents. I do not think the business climate and our attractive state are bad things, but they increase the demand on our resources. I see it as a direct line of need: I need power for the day-to-day operation of my home, and I do not want South Carolina to become a state where I am told what days I can do my laundry, water my lawn, turn on my air conditioner or drive to shop. I’m not proposing going back to horse-and-buggy transportation, but our infrastructure does not seem ready for a full electric vehicle world. I look to our public utilities to provide the resources for everyone on demand. They are responding to our consumer and business needs and must plan and do it now rather than later. So do we stop new businesses or people from relocating here, or do we back ourselves into a corner and not have the services we expect and suffer the consequences? DIANE SMITH Mount Pleasant MUSC innovation Dr. David J. Cole’s Tuesday op-ed regarding MUSC’s bicentennial captures a truth with which we at the South Carolina Research Authority are fully in agreement: Innovation is the lifeblood of progress and growth. South Carolina’s advancement as a state is tethered to pioneering endeavors in health care and technology. MUSC’s proposed Innovation District promises a nexus for this advancement. By fostering environments where innovation thrives, much like SCRA’s ongoing mission to fuel technology-focused growth, we can all not only enrich our medical, academic and entrepreneurial landscape but also strengthen the economic and health fabric of our community. We in the Lowcountry must embrace this opportunity, knowing that together we are all the builders of a future where South Carolina leads in technological and health sciences progress. BOB QUINN President and CEO S.C. Research Authority Summerville Raise salaries I’m writing in support of the recent Charleston Area Justice Ministry’s decision to ask the Charleston County School Board for more transparency and accountability. This is important, but it’s also important to raise the salaries of teachers and classified workers at schools to a livable wage. Many have to work more than one job in spite of working full time caring for and educating our children. Do the right thing by us all. CAROL DOTTERER Charleston Send us your letters Send us your letters What’s on your mind? Join our community conversations and let your voice be heard by writing a letter to the editor. Letters can be a maximum of 250 words and are subject to editing for clarity, tone and libel. They must include the writer’s name and city for publication and a daytime telephone number for verification. Email your submissions to [email protected] or fill out the form on our online portal.