Road improvements pave the way for Magnolia

Construction of roads to serve the planned Magnolia development in the Charleston Neck area is slated to begin next month.

The Magnolia Development team has hired two general contractors for construction of a bridge and other road improvements to service the blueprinted neighborhood near the North Charleston border.

Columbia-based Republic Contracting Corp. won the bid to build a 1,400-foot bridge across the marsh, connecting the Magnolia site to the surrounding community. Work is expected to begin next month.

The bridge will provide a connection to Magnolia from the Rutledge Avenue exit off Interstate 26. It also will serve as the grand entrance to the development and provide pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular access to the adjacent Wagener Terrace neighborhood.

Local general contractor Gulf Stream Construction Co. Inc. will oversee work to widen and repave nearby Heriot, Petty and Mechanic streets. The project also includes construction of sidewalks, traffic signals and required landscaping.

Magnolia’s agreements with the general contractors stipulate that at least 18% of the subcontractors hired to complete the work must be minority-owned businesses. That number was suggested by the city of Charleston.

The Magnolia developers have said their long-range goal — within the next few decades — is to turn about 150 acres of highland into a mixed-use community, including 140,000 square feet of commercial and office space and 4,400 town houses.

No projections have been made as to when vertical construction might begin, company spokesman Jonathan Scott said.