Travel – Tidelines

Memorial Day Weekend Traffic

Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of summer and we look forward to welcoming summer visitors. As we all know, traffic can get congested at the gate as visitors arrive to spend their summer holiday on Seabrook Island.

Data collected reveals that the peak hours of visitor arrivals are from 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm on the Saturdays of the holiday weekend. During those times, visitor pass volume may be over 100 vehicles per hour!

You might want to avoid entering the gate over Memorial Day weekend during the peak hours between 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm.

If you are expecting personal or rental guests, please expedite their arrival by using the FastAccess system. Click here to see the Tidelines article with further information.

Remember: Be prepared. Be patient.

–Tidelines Editors

Heavy Traffic This Weekend and Next

This weekend and next, between Palm Sunday and Easter, is a traditional spring break week for many. Expect unusually heavy traffic coming onto the Island on Saturday, April 9, and Saturday, April 16, from around 2:00 pm until 7:00 pm.

You may want to plan your trips and travel on and off the island accordingly.

In addition, this means there will be more than the usual number of cars, pedestrians, and bikers on our roads. Please be patient and obey the rules and regulations concerning driving, walking, and biking.

–Tidelines Editors

Update Travel Documents

A couple of years ago, we published Hints for Travelers in which we reported to our readers about TSA PreCheck®, Global Entry, and CLEAR. All three of these can make your travel experience run much more smoothly.

As travel begins again, it would be a good idea to check the expiration date on any of the programs you use. One of our editors discovered her TSA PreCheck® had expired when her boarding pass didn’t include the usual TSA PreCheck® designation. Renewal is not automatic and may necessitate an interview to complete the process. Interviews are difficult to schedule. Even without the need for an interview, the process to renew Global Entry took a full month.

If you are interested in renewing your TSA PreCheck® membership, you may complete the application online or in person at an enrollment center 6 months prior to your KTN expiration date. Click here for more information.

Global Entry, a program of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. Global Entry members also receive TSA PreCheck® benefits as part of their membership. You may renew your membership one year before the program expiration. Click here for more information.

CLEAR is not available in all airports. Its term of membership is one year. For more information on renewing, click here.

For an overview of the Trusted Traveler Programs, click here.

Don’t forget to check your passport and whether you will need a European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) visa waiver. See our post from July 2019 here.

As always, check with your travel agent or go online for the most up-to-date information.

–Tidelines Editors

(Image credit: pixabay.com and various government websites.)

Memorial Day Weekend Traffic

If you are expecting personal or rental guests, please expedite their arrival by using the FastAccess system. Click here to see the Tidelines article with further information.

You might want to avoid entering the gate over Memorial Day weekend during the peak hours between 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm.

Remember: Be prepared. Be patient.

–Tidelines Editors

Heavy Traffic This Easter Weekend

Heavy traffic is expected this Easter weekend coming on and off Seabrook Island. The SIPOA Administration is expecting unusually heavy traffic coming onto the island on Saturday, April 3, from 2:00 pm until 7:00 pm.

You may want to plan your trip and travel on and off the island accordingly.

In addition, this means there will more than the usual number of cars, pedestrians and bikers. Please be patient and obey the rules and regulations concerning driving, walking and biking.

–Tidelines Editors

Accident on Main Rd & Patton Ave

At 8:00 am today, Tuesday, January 26, 2021, Tidelines learned that there is a two-car collision with injuries on Main Road and Patton Ave. Patton Avenue is near the Berkeley Electric Cooperative. If you are heading on or off the island, you may want to take an alternate route.

–Tidelines Editors

Evacuation at CHS Airport

On Wednesday, November 11, around noon, Mike Gorski of Island Transportation reported an incident at CHS Airport and Live5 News reports:

“Passengers have been evacuated from the Charleston International Airport as of shortly before noon Wednesday.

FlightAware is also reporting that all inbound flights to Charleston are being held at their point of origin until 2 p.m. “due to security.”

Airport Authorities have not yet explained the reason for the evacuation.”

Traffic is severely affected. Access to the terminal is restricted. Please plan accordingly if you are traveling to the airport or its vicinity. If you are flying today, contact your carrier for information.

–Tidelines Editors

Park & Go Closing

Tidelines has learned from one of our readers that the North Charleston airport parking service Park & Go is closing. Although their Facebook page is still active and has no information about the closing, an employee verified this information and indicated that individuals whose cars are parked there are being notified. For more information, contact them at (843) 302-2288.

–Tidelines Editors

Traffic Alert: Backup On River Road 8:30 am

We just received word that Plowground Road is being resurfaced and is causing delays on River Road.

You may want to allow extra time or choose an alternate route leaving or coming back to Seabrook Island.

–Tidelines Editors

Charleston International Airport

Charleston Internation Airport is undergoing a large construction project as they address the issue of parking at the airport. Unfortunately, until the five-story parking garage is completed, parking will be even more of a problem.

They are anticipating that the holidays will bring additional passengers that will need to park their cars. To address this, they have opened outlying lots and are providing additional free shuttles to the terminal and back to your car.

To see an article that appeared in The Post and Courier that contains maps and additional information, click here.

We strongly suggest getting to the airport early whether you are leaving your car or picking up people. The roads around the airport have been reconfigured to accommodate the construction as well as the holiday traffic. This means that there will be congestion as people park their cars, pick up passengers and drop them off.

Another suggestion is that if you park, you take a picture of the section number so you will be able to find your car when you return.

Safe travels!

–Tidelines Editors

Upcoming Changes to USPS Hold Mail Service

The United States Post Office has released the following notice:

“To provide you with greater security, USPS is making several changes to the online USPS Hold Mail™ process. These improvements will require additional action from you before you submit your next hold mail request.

What is changing?
Beginning in early October 2019, to place an online hold mail request in the future, you will be required to:

Create or sign in to your USPS.com^® account
Verify your identity

Note: There are several identity verification methods available, with some methods taking up to one week to complete, so please plan accordingly.

How can I prepare?
To complete account creation and satisfy the Hold Mail identity verification requirement ahead of these changes, you can sign up for the free USPS Informed Delivery^® feature – the only feature that currently offers identity verification. Once you are identity verified, you will not have to complete this step again for your current address and will be able to hold your mail. As an Informed Delivery subscriber, you will also be able to digitally monitor your mail while it is on hold. To learn more and sign up, go to the Informed Delivery Homepage. See more details in the Informed Delivery FAQs.

What if I already scheduled a USPS Hold Mail request?
If you placed a USPS Hold Mail request before these changes are implemented, your request will not be affected.

If you have other questions related to this upcoming change, please feel free to Contact Us or reach out to the USPS Helpdesk at 1-800-344-7779 for more information.”

–Tidelines Editors

Bochicket Rd at Edenvale Rd Closed Due To A Fire

Chief Fire Marshal Ryan Kunitzer, St. John’s Fire District, just tweeted that Bohicket Road is closed in the 2800 block – near Edenvale Rd. This is due to a structure fire.

He suggests that if you need to get off or on the island, you should use an alternate route.

–Tidelines Editors