CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The City of Charleston, in partnership with GAI Consultants, held its third and final public meeting regarding the Capital Connector Project Tuesday evening.
The Capital Connector is aimed at utilizing and enhancing Charleston’s riverfront area, while connecting the city’s West Side with its East End. The project starts at Magic Island on the West Side and will span three miles to the base of the 35th Street Bridge.
With the project, GAI Consultants have put out designs looking to make the city more walkable and bike-able with the widening of trails, enhanced crosswalks, and better signage and overall lighting.
In Tuesday’s meeting, the concept master plan was revealed, which included new renderings that came from the over 600 public comments that had been taken in both at prior public meetings as well as online surveys.
Amy Shuler Goodwin
Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin says the public showing up and making comments helps those in charge have a sense of what’s truly needed within the project.
“You think you know because you hear so much feedback and you think you know what people want, but it’s not until you meet people in these types of settings that you listen, and that’s when the good stuff really happens,” Goodwin said Tuesday. “Without this public feedback, I don’t think the project would be as good–it wouldn’t be as good.”
The city’s first step in the large project came in 2021, when it applied for a Planning and Design Grant to fund designs documents and other tools needed to get things up and moving. The city then applied for an Implementation Grant from the U.S, Department of Transportation by way of the Federal RAISE Program. The city was approved for the grant with the help of U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, and $25 million was the amount given for the project.
Goodwin says seeing the connector come to life has been amazing to watch over the multi-year process.
“It’s just fun for me to see all of this come to fruition,” Goodwin said. “We started this so many years back of trying to get funding to plan it, and then having the surprise that our construction grant actually went through, so it makes it a little bit more real to have that type of feedback and have that commitment of those funds, which were of course critical to this entire project.”
James Yost, landscape architect manager for GAI Consultants and project manager for the connector, says his team is comprised of nearly all Charleston natives or residents, and that helps fuel the drive to see the city improve its architecture.
“All the people that are working on this, for the majority, are Charlestonians. They’re here working on something that they take pride in because they’re going to be the ones using it as well,” Yost said.
Yost, who has lived on Charleston’s East End his entire life, says he’s enjoyed every piece of feedback he’s received.
James Yost
“We really have enjoyed being able to be out working with the community, hearing from what they need because we’re part of the community as well, so we’re hearing that, we’re feeling that, so we’re making sure that everyone is heard as well as possible,” Yost said. “Just being able to connect with others that have the same thoughts as we do when it comes to making sure that we provide those connections. Making sure we have these amenities for our community has really been something that I’m thrilled to be a part of.”
Yost also says with the sheer size of the project, it’s not possible to incorporate every citizen suggestion, but a large sum is being included.
“We are dealing with a RAISE grant of $25 million across three-and-half miles of designs, so we are having to realize where that money can go and how to best utilize it and make sure that people get as close to what they want as possible,” Yost said. “Not everything is going to make it in the plan, but most of it really is. We’re doing a really good job to try to meet in the middle and make a design that functions for everyone’s needs and desires along this section.”
The city and GAI Consultants will be taking submitted comments from the public regarding the project until January 3.
The Capital Connector has an estimated implementation phase set for summer of 2025 that would begin the bidding and construction process.