Councilmember Mike Tinkey brought out his forest green bicycle to the Pitt Street Bridge area.
Pitt Street Bridge and walkway are now officially reopened after being closed for restorations from winter 2024 to July 1. The Town of Mount Pleasant celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony that was open to the public.
The Pitt Street Bridge Micromobility project, which has been underway since 2022, started construction last winter to improve pedestrian safety, rehabilitate the kayak launch, repave and increase parking, fortify the foundation of the bridge sustainability and increase accessibility to all park-goers. The project cost the Town $913,016.
The ceremony hosted Town Council members, project manager Rion Longfellow and community members to celebrate the new restorations. Pitt Street leading up to the bridge is now repaved with a clear bike and pedestrian lane, extensive additional parking and dedicated golf cart parking.
There was an emphasis on improved safety to the park, Town Council Member John Iacofano told the Moultrie News. Iacofano uses the park every Friday to exercise and is excited for the public to be able to safely utilize this space again, he said.
“It’s important for places like this to be open for citizens to enjoy,” Iacofano said. “So that’s what this really is about.”
Iacofano is also excited for citizens of Mount Pleasant to be able to use the new kayak launch which was built to be safer and bigger than the previous one, he said.
The project’s emphasis was not only safety but sustainability as well.
The bridge is now supported by a new technology called Envirolok which is a natural alternative to retaining walls. Using firm stacks of sandbags like bricks, the retaining wall around the bridge will allow native grasses and plants to grow in them and prevent erosion, Longfellow said.
However, implementing this new technology proved to be the biggest challenge in starting this project.
“It’s a fairly new product for erosion control and for tidal forces,” according to Longfellow. “So getting used to using that and getting started with that kind of took some time, but after a month or so the contractors kicked up production.”
Longfellow moved to Mount Pleasant when he married his wife who is from here and loves coming to the park for sunsets and picnics.
“It’s incredibly rewarding, working through the town and to be able to work in one of this place’s crown jewels,” Longfellow said. He continued gesturing to people walking along the pedestrian path, “It feels great… to see people use it the way that it was designed to be used.”
Mount Pleasant resident Joanna Gilmore attended the ribbon cutting ceremony with her 15-year-old son Elias Gilmore who has been selling shaved ice at Pitt Street Bridge since he was 10 years old.
“All the work that’s been done here is really beneficial for [Elias’ business],” Joanna said. “We just love coming out here anyway because we live back here. This location – any work to improve it can bring out the best part of town.”
The bridge has profound connections to Mount Pleasant history – built in 1778 by Christopher Gadsden who designed the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, the bridge was utilized in both the American Revolution and the Civil War. It has stood the test of time, and the Town will continue to invest in its infrastructure, Town Council Member Mike Tinkey said.
Fairly new to the Mount Pleasant Town Council being voted in March 25 of this year, Tinkey is not new to Mount Pleasant. Three generations of his family live in town and use the bridge on a regular basis.
“I think it was done as environmentally-friendly as possible to celebrate our wetlands,” Tinkey said while walking his forest-green bicycle decorated with a mini American flag down the newly paved Pitt Street. “We’re just one of the stewards and one of the caretakers of this generation … It’s important for us to really leave this place better for the next generation.”
Sustainability was “one of the reasons I ran,” Tinkey said. He points out how the native grasses have already started to grow in the Envirolok wall around the bridge.
The Pitt Street Bridge and Park is now officially open to the public and ready to embrace the community.
“[The Town] listened to the community and figured out how the community liked to use it, how it would be interpreted for the next generation. So I think the biggest pride was to listen and learn and then put that into work”
