lwrendexter

A public drop-in style meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 22 between 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the USCA Convocation Center to gather public comment and provide information to the public on an ongoing study to identify solutions to issues of traffic congestion, traffic safety, and projected growth along the 1.6-mile section of the Robert M. Bell Parkway/SC Highway 118 from USCA to Vaucluse Road. The public has been invited to email comments to Aiken County Planning and Development or to place comments in the comment box at the meeting. The letter below is being published here to raise awareness of this meeting and the issues that compel it. See more details on the meeting at bottom of this letter.

To Aiken County Planning and Development:

We moved to the Gregg Park neighborhood off Trolley Line Road in 2014. The close proximity to amenities like shopping, USCA, the YMCA and nearby Gregg Park Civic Center drew us to the area. We especially loved the relative quiet of the neighborhood and the setting — surrounded by pine woodlands and a couple miles removed from the bustle of traffic. This has changed a lot in the past 10 years, but most profoundly in the past several years, due in great part to a mix of unplanned and poorly planned growth in this area.

The collateral effects from this growth — issues of traffic congestion, traffic safety and erosion — have been driven down Trolley Line Road.

The Gregg Park neighborhood. Click to view full size.

The issues between SC Hwy 118 and Trolley Line Road are threefold. First, there is the increased traffic. Second, there is the lack of infrastructure to safely accommodate the increased traffic. Third are the erosion issues that have been created by clearing forests and leaving stormwater to do what it will. I will address these issues one at a time.

INCREASED TRAFFIC

The expanding Trolley Run Station subdivision has brought, and continues to bring, more residents to this area. Many of these residents use Trolley Line Rd as a shortcut/speedway to connect to the Aiken-Augusta/Jefferson Davis Hwy, or as a route to access the I-20 interstate or to access local schools, as this entire neighborhood, formerly zoned for Area 1, was rezoned for Area 3 schools in 2019.

The upcoming expansion of 45 houses, (see marker B on map below) which will be sandwiched in the now-treeless acreage between Bridge Creek and Trolley Line Rd will send yet more traffic onto Trolley Line Rd.

Shortly to the east on on Trolley Line Road, next to USCA, are the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative facility, (see marker H on map), which is currently under construction, and the adjacent, soon-to-be-constructed National Guard Cybersecurity Readiness Center and Dreamport (see marker G on map). Will these workers use the Trolley Line Rd shortcut to travel back and forth to 1-20, North Augusta, Augusta, Fort Eisenhower and SRS?

At present, drivers traveling west on Trolley Line, toward Graniteville, encounter a speed zone change from 45 to 35 mph as they enter the older, established Gregg Park neighborhood (see marker A on map). These signs are ignored, and with impunity, as there is no traffic-law enforcement. The heavy demand of hurried drivers has transformed this road into a high-speed thoroughfare. This was already a special problem area, with many neighbors posting signs imploring drivers, to no avail, to observe the posted speed limit.

The problem has grown exponentially worse over just the past few years. Drivers routinely exceed the speed at 50-70 mph, race up behind slower drivers, then cruise into the other lane, disregarding the double-yellow line and without regard for oncoming or incoming traffic. This has created dangerous conditions for the five streets and the 70-something driveways to the Gregg Park neighborhood homes (see top map) that front this stretch of Trolley Line Road.

Drivers entering Trolley Line from a street or driveway can get caught unaware by a driver speeding down the road at 70 mph who’s just decided to pass someone, threatening a head-on collision. Drivers attempting to make a turn off Trolley Line into a driveway or street can likewise be caught unaware of a kamikaze driver from behind, about to T-bone them in an attempt to pass. Averting rear-end and head-on collisions is a daily fact of life. This stretch of road has all the ingredients for a deadly crash.

Our teenage daughters drive this road daily to and from school and work. In the absence of traffic enforcement — and with laws prohibiting cameras to catch people who drive dangerously and in gross excess of posted limits — I wonder how we will regain safe access to the roads that lead to our home?

INFRASTRUCTURE

The infrastructure in this area has not grown to accommodate the volume of the increased traffic. The traffic-light intersection of Robert M. Bell Pkwy and Trolley Line Rd (see marker E on map) is especially hazardous for its non-existent rules.. Since there are no turn lanes, motorists are compelled to make their own rules, which results in games of chicken as no one can tell if the person opposing them is going straight or turning. Often, left turners just sit there stumped through the green light as to what they are supposed to do: who goes first?

Meanwhile traffic continues to back up to the east, as USCA students struggle to make the left turn onto Trolley Line Rd. from College Station Dr. (see marker F on map) — an intersection that would benefit from prohibiting left turns during posted hours — say, from 3:00-6:00 pm? After all, USCA has other exits into less trafficked areas on University Pkwy that would not add to rush hour congestion. As it stands now, the traffic at the light backs up during rush hour, with cars lined up from the light at Robert M. Bell Pky to University Parkway (see marker I on map). Heading east on Robert M. Bell Pky at rush hour, traffic may back up all the way to Proud Pacer Dr (at the Convocation Center). This makes a nightmare of our drive home. This intersection is dysfunctional and dangerous from every direction.

EROSION

The above issues are compounded by the further lack of planning for stormwater runoff. As the entire area continues to be clear cut tract-by-tract for development, little regard is being paid to how this concrete jungle will affect the low-lying sandy areas. Already you can see the effects, as vigorous rainstorms create extreme runoff that creates a stream of water and loose sand across Trolley Line Rd. (see marker C on map). The river of runoff sand is visible alongside the road in this area.

This runoff is also causing hazards at the entrance to the Circle K (see marker D on map) at the corner of Robert M Bell and Trolley Line Rd., where sinkholes deep enough to break an axle continually emerge, then get repaired, then re-emerge. Drivers turning into Circle K from Trolley Line are sometimes forced to come to a complete stop, which creates a bottleneck at this spot as they try to ease their way around these holes to avoid damaging their cars.

How much more runoff-absorbing plant-life will be removed? Seeing the lack of planning in the lands east of the Gregg Park neighborhood the 118 bypass and Trolley Line Rd , our family lives in fear of potential development in the wooded hillside between the Gregg Park neighborhood and Gregg Hwy (see map at top). Were similar deforestation to take place in this area, the runoff to Laurel Drive and the Gregg Park neighborhood would be catastrophic. We’ve already reaped a sneak preview of that from minor tree removal up in that hillside.

In the 10 years we’ve lived in the Gregg Park the quality of life has markedly diminished as we’ve watched the woodlands around our neighborhood disappear. One by one, swaths of old-growth, longleaf habitat have been destroyed and paved over with expanding residental development, a golf course, and expansions to the USCA complex. The felling of trees has been followed by the burning of huge piles of refuse wood, leaving the air choked with thick smoke for weeks at a time. Future growth should take into account both soil erosion and air quality when making decision about clearing forests.

All of this is to say that future growth in this area does not take place in a vacuum up on SC Hwy 118. The surrounding roads and neighborhoods are a part of the equation and should be taken into account.

My hope is that, by shedding some light on the issues that have arisen in the development along the Robert M. Bell Parkway and Trolley Line Rd, measures will be taken to mitigate some of these issues and to not repeat these mistakes in future development in this area.

To reiterate:

There need to be turning lanes in on both sides of Trolley Line Rd at the Robert M Bell Pkwy.
The erosion and runoff at the Circle K and further down Trolley Line (see map point C) need to be addressed.
The speeding issues on Trolley Line Rd. need to be addressed, particularly in the Gregg Park neighborhood area where speed-limit signs are ignored and no-passing lines are disregarded. With the numerous driveways and streets entering the roadway, the recipe has been written for deadly accidents.

Sincerely,
Wren Dexter
Graniteville, SC

________________________

Joro spiders are making headlines, but the sensational stories being spun about them have put our non-native spiders in the crosshairs, while leaving the average person confused about whether the Joro poses any risk to their gardens and pets.

The articles aren’t being written by experts and the titles foment fear with terms like ‘invasion,’ ‘take-over,’ ‘massive’ and ‘venomous.’ I found many errors — as well as outright fear-mongering — in my review. And those errors stick around: A gardener friend asked if I’d heard about “those Japanese spiders, parachuting down from the sky by the thousands.” When I told him I had, he confided in me, “I hear their bite is deadly.”

This isn’t true, but it makes for an exciting news segment. Another friend came to me proclaiming to have finally identified the large spider in her front yard as an invasive species. It turned out to be a native golden silk orb weaver.

A Forsyth County man set his house on fire trying to eradicate the perceived threat after being alarmed by sensationalist media coverage. (1) Clearly there’s just a lot of bad information out there.

Here’s a rundown of the facts:

The Joro (Trichonephila clavata) has already been in our area for at least 8 years, during which time they have settled in nicely side-by-side with our native species.
There’s no bite risk to humans or mammals. Their fangs are too small and weak to effectively pierce human skin, but even if they were to succeed, their venom is mild and has evolved to harm insects, not mammals.
While their babies do “balloon” as many spiders do, traveling in the breeze on strands of silk, adult Joros certainly do not parachute down in the thousands.
Their prey includes pests such as the invasive crop-damaging brown-marmorated stink bugs (which many spiders won’t touch), mosquitos and yellow jackets, making the outdoors a little more pleasant for all of us and helping farmers naturally control pests.

The news stories routinely confuse two different things: Invasive species that come in and cause major problems (think fire ants), and non-native species that find a comfortable place in their new ecosystem, and do not cause harm. Joros are non-native, but are not considered to be invasive.

Worse, still, some news stories post pictures of the wrong spiders. They confuse the Joro with similar-looking native species like the golden silk orb weaver, Trichonephila clavipes, or with other native black and yellow species like the writing/garden spider, Argiope aurantia. The truth is, most of us would have trouble telling the difference between these spiders. IDs are best left to the experts.

Why is it difficult to ID the Joro? The Joro and the native golden silk orb weaver both spin webs that are gold in color. Both are large spiders that have very large webs that become noticeable in fall. Both are primarily yellow and black, with yellow and black striped legs and a yellow body with a red or burgundy spot on their underside, and a bright yellow mottled pattern on their back. But both species have variations in colors as well!

Is it really a Joro Spider?

Can you tell which of these are Trichonephila sp.? Can you tell which are non-native Joro spiders, Trichonephila clavata and which are the native golden silk orb weaver, Trichonephila clavipes? I’ve been talking with my spouse about the misinformation on Joro spiders for months now, and he still wasn’t able to identify the spiders in these photos with confidence. I’ll put the answers at the bottom of the article for anyone who wants to try their hand at identifying our native species versus the non-native Joro.

What do the experts say?

Will Hudson, a University of Georgia extension entomologist, explained, “People shouldn’t be frightened of the spider at all, and in the event they ever cross your path, admire them,” he said. “They are really cool, and they are beautiful. You can go over and admire it, you can get as close as you want to get a really good picture with your cell phone… They’re just spectacular.”

Hudson says he’s held them numerous times, and his grandchildren even hold them. “They’re completely harmless.”(4)

Nancy Hinkle, another UGA entomologist adds “Joro spiders present us with excellent opportunities to suppress pests naturally, without chemicals.” She is trying to convince people that “having large spiders and their webs around is a good thing.” (5)

Nancy Hinkle, UGA entomologist, handling a Joro spider. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FA4XtgwX0AQNzDm.jpg

Entomologist Linda Raynor, who specializes in behavioral ecology and the evolution of sociality in spiders at Cornell University, says “There is no evidence that this spider presents any sort of an ecological risk or risk to people or pets of being bitten. The only way you get bitten by orb weavers is if you put your fingers in their faces, and even then, it is rare.” (6)

Richard Hoebeke was the first to positively identify a Joro spider in northern Georgia in 2014. This past year he said, “I think people need to make peace with Joros and accept the spiders because they are not going anywhere.” (5)

The Rule of Thumb

Here’s the moral of the story: If you see one of these spiders, take a moment to enjoy and marvel at the colors, the beautiful architecture of its web, the wonderful role this creature plays in keeping the balance of insects in check. Don’t like spiders? No problem! Leave them alone, and they’ll return the favor. No need to kill them.

(1)https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/badge-bar/hall-firefighters-extinguish-house-fire-south-gainesville/

(2) Joro Spiders: What You Need to Know – Alabama Cooperative Extension System

(3) Learn – Invasive & Non-Native Species (U.S. National Park Service)

(4)Scared of the palm-sized Joro spider? What to know about the ballooning, ‘beautiful spiders’

(5)Palm-sized, invasive spiders are spinning golden webs across Georgia in ‘extreme numbers’

(6)Nothing to fear as ‘stunningly beautiful’ Joro spider treks north | Cornell Chronicle

Photo ID:
1. Non-native Joro (Trichenophila clavata)
https://news.uga.edu/joro-spiders-likely-to-spread-beyond-georgia/

2. Native Writing spider (Argiope aurantia)
https://www.taringa.net/+imagenes/la-telarana-mas-curiosa-del-mundo_12vx71

3. Native Golden Silk Orb Weaver (Trichenophila clavipes)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/antmans.hill

4. Native Writing spider (Argiope aurantia)
https://bugguide.net/node/view/924138/bgimage

5. Native Golden Silk Orb Weaver (Trichenophila clavipes)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/antmans.hill

6. Non-native Joro (Trichenophila clavata)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/antmans.hill