The City of Charleston planned to improve and expand the existing Gaillard Municipal Auditorium into an attractive, multi-functional civic center at the heart of historic Charleston. The center would be named “Gaillard Center.” DAVENPORT was retained to provide transportation engineering services for the proposed center to determine the potential transportation-related impacts of the development and to identify improvements required to accommodate the impacts of both background and new development traffic. DAVENPORT worked closely with the city to obtain background information and develop the scope of work which included traffic and pedestrian counts, intersection analyses, and operational review of existing parking deck gates. The project was located on Calhoun Street, an area already prone to having queuing and parking issues. In addition, right-of-way constraints would not allow for traditional roadway improvements. Also, the city had estimated the each month of delay would cost an additional $366,000, and therefore, they were anxious to gain project approval as quickly as possible. It was also important to the city to gain the approval of the surrounding residents. Due to the location of the proposed redevelopment and an extremely tight site, cost- effective roadway improvement options were limited. Taking this into account, DAVENPORT was able to develop creative and budget-friendly congestion and parking strategies. DAVENPORT was also able to meet the tight deadline requested by the city. The report DAVENPORT delivered addressed the concerns of the surrounding neighborhood with regards to transportation. This allowed the city to gain project approval, move the development forward, and take advantage of lower construction costs.
