If you head out the door for your usual loop this morning, which stretch of Daniel Island's trails will have a milling machine on it? This week the answer is the middle of the island. Over the next four weeks the crews move into the parks and then onto the short connectors closest to home, with the work timed around the holidays.
The Daniel Island Property Owners' Association set the schedule in an October 28 announcement. Two contractors started on Monday, November 2. One is repaving the asphalt trails in four phases. The other is resurfacing the Wando River Trail behind the Tennis Center and Recreation Center. The order of the phases does most of the planning for you. The long trails and the river path are due to finish first. The parks finish on the day the stadium tree gets lit, and the connectors to residential streets come last, in the second week of December.
This Week, the Crews Are in the Middle of the Island
Phase 2 runs November 17 to 25 and covers the central trails. That's the trail from Seven Farms to Grand Council, then Pierce, Oak Overhang, Smythe, Blakeway, Barfield and Daniel Island Drive. Phase 1 was scheduled to finish Monday, November 16. That phase covered the Fairchild Trail and the trails around Brady, Cape, Beresford, Scott, Cartwright, Proprietors and Etiwan.
The method decides how much of your walk gets interrupted. The contractor mills the old asphalt off one segment, paves it the next day, and mills the next segment ahead. According to the POA, that means each section is closed "only for a day or two, not weeks." Crews work Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. There's no work on Sundays, so Sunday is the one day of the week when nothing on the central trails is actively being ground or paved.
There's one catch to the rolling approach. A segment that has been milled but not yet paved stays rough and uneven overnight, with no equipment on it. The POA asks walkers to treat milled trail as a work zone even when it looks deserted. It also asks people to stay outside the cones and barricades until they come down, because new asphalt stays soft for a while. Stroller pushers, cyclists and anyone walking a dog after dark will feel that more than a runner will.
The River Trail Is Due to Finish Before Thanksgiving
The Wando River Trail runs on its own timeline under a separate contractor. This one isn't repaving. The crew breaks up the old, hardened surface and tops it with fresh material for a smoother finish. The work covers the northern Wando River Trails above Waterfront Park, and the POA expects it to wrap up in the third week of November, just before Thanksgiving.
The river trail project has three sections:
- Under the I-526 bridge. Started November 2 and was set to run four to six days, along the river beneath the Wando bridge.
- Between the Tennis Center and the bridge. A short stretch on the riverside of the Tennis Center, scheduled for about one day on November 6 or November 9.
- Seven Farms Drive to the back of the Tennis Center. The longest piece. It started November 11 and was set to run four to six days, resuming Monday, November 16. This is the section that runs from Seven Farms Drive around the pond and behind the stadium. Materials are staged in a coned-off area off Seven Farms Drive and aren't left out over weekends.
The work here happens on weekdays only, and the trail stays open in the evenings and on weekends throughout. If the forecast holds, the riverfront walk behind Credit One Stadium will have its new surface for Thanksgiving weekend. That's the walk out-of-town guests tend to ask for first.
Thanksgiving Week Opens Every Trail
The asphalt contractor takes a full break from November 26 through 29. The POA has also scheduled breaks for Christmas, December 24 through 27, and for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The association put it plainly:
"Every trail will be open during the holidays so you can enjoy them with family in town."
On the calendar, that makes Thanksgiving weekend the first stretch since November 1 with no trail crews on the island. By then the northern trails are done, the central trails are due to finish on November 25, and the river trail should be resurfaced. The parks and the residential connectors still have their old surface, but nothing is closed.
Two things on the island line up with that break. The Delancey Street Foundation's annual Christmas tree sales return to Credit One Stadium from Thanksgiving to Christmas, according to the stadium's October 30 announcement. The stadium says each purchase supports the foundation's work helping people rebuild their lives through employment, training and community support. For anyone who would rather ride than walk, the SpokeWorks Road Ride leaves from SpokeWorks Bicycle Workshop at 162 Seven Farms Drive, Unit 215. It's free, runs 9 to 10:30 a.m., and is on the POA calendar for Saturday, November 21 and again for Saturday, November 28.
The Parks Finish the Day the Tree Gets Lit
Phase 3 runs November 30 to December 4 and covers the parks and ponds: Pierce Park, Smythe Park, and the trail around the Waverly and Village ponds. That is the week the crews are closest to where people meet up, at the parks, the pond loops and the paths families take to them.
The last day of Phase 3 is Friday, December 4. That evening, Credit One Stadium holds its annual Tree Lighting Ceremony. Admission is free, gates open at 6 p.m., and the tree is lit at 7 p.m. The stadium lists visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus, a snow show and cookie decorating. Crews stop at 7 p.m. each workday, so anyone walking to the stadium through a freshly paved stretch of Pierce or Smythe Park that evening may still find cones around asphalt that hasn't set.
The same weekend, December 4 through 6, the Holiday Classic presented by Safelite returns to LTP Daniel Island. It's a tennis and pickleball tournament that benefits MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital. The stadium encourages anyone who comes to bring toys, games or activity kits from the hospital's Child Life Wish List. With the river trail behind the Tennis Center resurfaced by then, the walk along the water to the courts will be on the new surface.
The Last Stretch Is the One Nearest Home
Phase 4 runs December 7 to 14 and covers the residential connectors around Smythe, Wando, Willtown, Juliana, Gatewood and Village Crossing. These are the short links between neighborhood streets and the larger trail system. For a lot of households, they're the first and last few hundred feet of every walk.
Putting the connectors last means the long trails are smooth for weeks before the short pieces catch up. It also means the second week of December is when a closure is most likely to sit right next to someone's street, even if only for a day or two. The POA expects the whole asphalt project to finish by mid-December, with weather and unforeseen circumstances able to push that back. The association says it will post significant schedule changes by email and on its website. Questions go to [email protected] or 843-971-9200.
Seven Farms Drive Gets Two New Crossings
The trails are getting most of the attention, but two street projects on Seven Farms Drive will change how walkers get from the paths to the shops.
The Daniel Island News reported on November 3 that construction had begun on a new crosswalk at Pier View Street and Seven Farms Drive, connecting Pier View to Bucksley Lane. It sits between the buildings that house Blondies Bagels & Cafe and Mac's Daniel Island. The crosswalk gets flashing beacons and curb extensions, similar to the crossing on Seven Farms Drive between Credit One Stadium and the Publix shopping center. The curb extensions widen the sidewalk corners, which helps drivers see pedestrians and shortens the distance across the street. The News put the project at three to four weeks, mostly during weekday business hours. On that timeline, it should be finishing around the time the parks phase wraps up.
Farther along Seven Farms, crews are building a roundabout at the River Landing Drive intersection. The old right-turn lanes are blocked off, and according to the same report, construction will continue through the winter with completion expected in the first half of 2027. River Landing Drive leads to Waterfront Park, so for now the walk from the river trail toward the park passes a work zone that will still be there after the trails are finished.
Cameron Crossman and the team at Crossman & Co pay this kind of attention to the island's paths, parks and crossings all year. If you're weighing how a Daniel Island street connects to the trails, or thinking about a home near one of those connectors, schedule your free consultation and we'll walk it with you.
