Two of the three things interrupting the West Ashley Greenway this fall are scheduled to finish in the same season, fall 2027. Both are at the trail's Folly Road end, a short distance apart. One is a drainage project that has closed a stretch of trail near South Windermere. The other is the Ashley River Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge, and its West Ashley landing is planned to come down Albemarle Road to a crosswalk onto the Greenway. The section of trail that now starts behind a shopping center is being rebuilt as the West Ashley approach to a crossing into downtown. The third interruption, a sewer break farther out, came and went in two days, but it left a water advisory that matters to anyone walking near the marsh.
Where the trail starts, and who's there
SC Trails lists the West Ashley Greenway as a 10.5-mile out-and-back that's open dawn to dusk. Coming from downtown, you take US 17 west over the Ashley, turn left onto Folly Road, then turn right at the second light into South Windermere Shopping Center. The trail begins behind the center.
The trailhead has two anchors. Three Little Birds Café & Catering serves breakfast and lunch at 65 Windermere Blvd. Down the block at 10 Windermere Blvd. is The Lick, which opened in the former YoBo Cantina Fresca space; YoBo closed in February 2025. According to the Post and Courier, owner Christopher Betros wanted a higher-end restaurant in a part of the Lowcountry where most places are more casual. Betros told the paper, "My goal was to create a place that feels special enough to be a destination, but also comfortable enough to feel like it truly belongs to the neighborhood." The Lick's website lists dinner nightly and brunch on Saturday and Sunday.
For years this corner was simply where the trail began. Once the bridge opens, it will be where a route from downtown comes ashore in West Ashley.
Campbell to Wesley: closed until the drainage work is done
The stretch of trail you can't use right now is between Campbell Drive and Wesley Drive. The City of Charleston closed it on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, for the Windermere Neighborhood Drainage Improvements Project. According to the notice the Old Windermere Neighborhood Association posted, the closure is needed to finish drainage infrastructure and the utility relocations that go with it.
The notice gives two detours:
- Option A: Beverly Road
- Option B: Windermere Boulevard
The work has moved in stages. From June through July 31, crews worked on Culbertson Drive and at the Culbertson and Chadwick intersection. After that, the schedule moved the work east along the Greenway through fall 2026.
Even so, the closure covers the whole job, not a single season. The city's project StoryMap says construction runs through fall 2027 and that the Campbell to Wesley section stays closed for the duration. The project was advertised in January 2026 and awarded in March. The StoryMap shows the affected stretch near the West Ashley Branch Library and South Windermere Center, so this is the part of the trail closest to the trailhead.
If you have questions about the closure, call the City's Citizen Services Desk at (843) 724-7311.
Coburg to Farmfield: the trail reopened, but stay out of the water
The third interruption was shorter. On October 20 a sewer main broke on the Greenway between Coburg Road and Farmfield Avenue and released 8,800 gallons of sewage, according to Charleston Water System. The trail there was closed October 20 and 21.
The trail closure ended, but the water advisory didn't end with it. Charleston Water's October 28 update asks the public to keep avoiding the nearby marsh and waterways shown on its map until testing shows bacteria levels are back to normal. That applies to dogs that wade in, kids who head for the edge of the marsh, and anyone launching a kayak nearby. The alert page linked above is where Charleston Water posts updates.
Across the river, the bridge is on the same clock
The Windermere drainage work and the Ashley River Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge are separate projects with separate budgets. They are scheduled to finish in the same season.
At the City's Traffic and Transportation Committee meeting on July 14, 2026, Mayor Cogswell reported the bridge was two-thirds complete and set to finish in fall 2027. Crews on the West Approach were placing the movable span, which the meeting minutes call a complicated part of the job that had run into a few issues and was still on schedule. Charleston Moves summarized the meeting the same day and also gave a fall 2027 opening.
The bridge isn't open, but drivers on US 17 have already seen the work. The City scheduled overnight closures on US 17 northbound from near Albemarle Road to near the Lockwood exit ramp, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on September 23 into September 24 and again on October 28 into October 29. Both closures began at Albemarle Road, the street the bridge's West Ashley connection is planned to use.
How the bridge is planned to reach the Greenway
At the July meeting, Councilmember Skardon asked how the bridge would connect to the West Ashley side and the Greenway. Mr. Darby of HDR, the City's design consultant, walked through it, and the minutes record the route this way:
- A construction laydown yard on the West Ashley side is to be redeveloped. Mayor Cogswell said the site is a City park that is being used as a laydown yard for now and will go back to being a City park.
- A path runs to the back of the 35 Folly property.
- The route follows an alleyway to the back side of that property and over to Albemarle Road.
- It continues down Albemarle toward Porter-Gaud to a crosswalk that crosses to the Greenway.
- When asked whether Albemarle would get a multi-use bike lane, Darby said yes.
The intersection itself was part of the plan from the start. The federal BUILD grant awarded on November 6, 2019, was $18.149 million, and the local match came from the City, Charleston County and MUSC. That put the total at about $23 million, with a scope that includes three intersection upgrades for safe access to the bridge: Bee and Lockwood, Folly and the West Ashley Greenway, and Wappoo and the West Ashley Greenway. In July, Charleston Moves reported that the contractors were finishing designs for the Folly Road and Greenway intersection and the Lockwood slip lane and would apply for SCDES and SCDOT permits.
So two of the three upgrades in the grant are at Greenway crossings. Wappoo Road and Folly Road both cross the trail, which means the bridge plan reaches past the river and into the Greenway itself.
The peninsula landing, and where it might go
The downtown end of the bridge has been more in flux. On February 10, 2026, Charleston City Council approved another $437,500 to finish the eastern landing design, including a direct connection to the Medical District, and to cover safety and remediation work after crews found an unexpected creosote pile.
At the July meeting, the mayor described another option. The City had asked contractor MasTec to price a tie-in with the Ashley River Walk, a dock system on the peninsula side that runs under the Ashley River bridges to Brittlebank Park. The minutes record a preliminary estimate of $13 million against an original budget of $10 million. HDR was preparing a formal change order, and the City would then decide whether to go ahead with it or keep the original plan.
For someone starting at South Windermere, the outcome affects the end of the ride, not the beginning. The West Ashley side of the plan runs down Albemarle to the Greenway crosswalk either way.
Fall 2026 by segment
| Location | What's happening | Planned through |
|---|---|---|
| Greenway, Campbell Dr. to Wesley Dr. | Closed for Windermere drainage work; detours on Beverly Road or Windermere Boulevard | Fall 2027, per the City |
| Greenway, Coburg Rd. to Farmfield Ave. | Trail closed Oct. 20 and 21 after a sewer main break; Oct. 28 advisory to avoid nearby marsh and waterways | Until testing confirms safe levels |
| US 17 northbound, near Albemarle Rd. to Lockwood ramp | Overnight lane closures for bridge work on Sept. 23 to 24 and Oct. 28 to 29 | 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on each scheduled night |
| Albemarle Rd. to Greenway crosswalk | Planned West Ashley connection, with a multi-use bike lane discussed for Albemarle | Tied to the bridge |
Charleston Moves says people have debated a safe bike and pedestrian crossing of the Ashley River since the 1920s. Groundbreaking for this bridge was in January 2025.
The changes at the Greenway's Folly Road end also show up in the houses nearby. A street that's a short walk from a trail with a bridge into downtown is different from what it was before the bridge. If you live near South Windermere, Albemarle Road or the Windermere detour streets and want to talk about what these projects mean for your home, Kim Meyer is glad to go over the timelines with you. Let's Connect.
