East Cooper Connector Route #401

You can now plan trips using this route automatically using Google Transit.

Community, Civic Life, Commerce and History

Mount Pleasant is a family oriented community where the #401 East Cooper Connector Route allows residents to shop, dine, visit historical and cultural sites and enjoy beautiful waterfront vistas without resorting to use of the automobile. Only ten years after Mayor Harry Hallman proudly described the town as a “bedroom” community residents came together in winter of 2011 to plan a new community bus route. This route, rolled out on April 17, 2011 is the result of the community knowledge and experience, hammered down on the map during three months of meetings, workshops and online communication. It represents the first major step taken by community leadership towards a more diverse transit system.

The ECCR Twitter Hash Code for the East Cooper Connector is #CARTA401 which can be used to track tweets on this lines condition and performance from anyone participating in ECCR’s route monitoring and improvement program.  Check tweets about the #401 http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23CARTA401

Maps and Schedules for the East Cooper Connector

1. CARTA – Route 401 Map (.pdf) The Official CARTA map and schedule
2. Download Route #401 Map (.pdf) Download to print.
3. New detailed bus stop map for the #401 showing locations of the 39 known stops on the line, now on a real map,  This large sized map is an 11×17 PDF which can be printed out or viewed online.  First stage of the planned East Cooper Transit Guide.
4. Colemen Blvd. Business Owners Guide to the #401 East Cooper Connector- The first of our detailed, specialized guides which focuses on a group of users in a specific area.  Dialing in to the sidewalk level for clarity and detail.  Neighborhood stop map, timetable and pointers for making the bus work for a business.  The map and timetable should be useful for anyone living in the area and the guide is a great thing to share with the merchants and businesses you know.  Business comes on the bus.

Starts Near Mount Pleasant Town Hall

Flyover Video with highlights of this route section on YouTube

The 401 starts at 7 minutes after the hour near Mt. Pleasant Town Hall, and Patriot’s Plaza shopping center on Houston Northcutt  Stop 401crst001 is located on the West Side of the four lane Road about 100 feet South of Wendys.  There are two concrete benches and a concrete Pylon with “Bus Stop” molded into it.  This stop in not ADA compliant and lacks sidewalk access.  It has been scheduled to be upgraded to a fully ADA compliant, sidewalked stop within a year as part of the nearby Road project.  This stop also serves the #40 Trans Mount Pleasant bus running West into Charleston at 20 minutes after the hour.  Parking is available behind the stop in the Harris Teeter parking lot and across the road in the empire of Asphalt that is Patriot’s Plaze’s parking lot.  For longer waits, neaby businesses have put a picnic table under the trees in the shade just behind the stop.

From Houston Northcutt, the bus travels to Coleman Blvd., the town’s longest established commercial shopping district. The unique shops, restaurants and other businesses here are too numerous to name, but this is a boulevard filled with unique, locally owned businesses. A detialed map for stops along this section and time table area available in our Coleman Blvd. Business Owners Guide to the #401

This bus route is notable for its rich selection of second hand shops, antique dealers, thrift stores and consignment shops. An entire strip center of such business is just past the Boulevard Diner on the right. Mt. Pleasant loves to shop but it loves to save as well. If you ride the bus, nobody can spot your Lexus parked outside Goodwill, two outlets of which are on this route.

Shem Creek & The Old Village

After a run of about a mile, the road will rise to cross Shem Creek, nationally famous for the view of the Town’s shrimping fleet and docks. The creek is lined with Restaurants, some of which receive their seafood fresh from the shrimp and fishing boats. This route launched with an event at the 2011 Blessing of the Fleet, which celebrates the community’s struggling, but cherished fishing industry.

Beyond the bridge, on the right side is Mount Pleasant’s old village, with over fifty blocks of historic houses, parks, churches, and civic buildings. Equal to downtown Charleston in beauty and history, this was the backdrop for the films the Notebook and Rich in Love. Further down Coleman Blvd. on the right is the Mt. Pleasant Farmer’s Market sheds, which fill with music, color and local produce in season. The Market holds down a corner of the Campus of Moultrie Middle School, now housed in a modern state of the art building that’s façade recalls the historic Mt. Pleasant Academy and represents a return to forceful, civically prominent architecture for the area’s schools.

On the left is the Village Playhouse, the town’s successful live theater and Page’s Okra Grill, named after CARTA Trustee and Mt. Pleasant Town Council Member Linda Page.

Further, on the right is Royall Hardware, noted for its large selection of locally made gifts and products and its extraordinarily helpful staff.

The route continues to the intersection of Rifle Range Road and Ben Sawyer, where it turns to the left and proceedes to the old location of Whitesides School, currently the temporary home of Sullivan’s Island Elementary while a new school is being built on the island.

The bus passes through residential neighborhoods to reach Chuck Dawly Blvd., named for Mt. Pleasant Police Chief Chuck Dawley who singlehandedly policed our small town many years ago. The route goes to Bowman Road where it passes Kmart, where you can transfer to the Express Bus for a quick trip to Downtown Charleston or West Ashley and Citadel Mall.  You can also connect at Kmart for trips to and From Awendaw and McClellenville on the Tri County Links C203 bus.

East Cooper Hospital Medical Complex & Senior Citizens Center

After crossing Highway 17, the 401 (currently on a detour) takes Bowman Road to Mathis Ferry Road.  The Mathis Ferry Branch of the Charleston County Library is located two blocks West of the intersection of Bowman and Mathis Ferry, starting from the Circle K.  The walk is sidewalked the entire way.   This branch of the library is the second busiest in the entire Charleston County System and has surpassed the main branch downtown in circulation on occasion.  Its a very busy place with a large meeting room and several conference rooms.  Internet access is available.  The library can also be reached by walking North from a stop on the #40 Trans Mount Pleasant route near Chick-fil-A.

After a short run on Mathis Ferry, it turns on to Von Kolnitz Road.  It stops at the Senior Citizens center on the left, another very popular and busy destination on this route.  This route wasn’t planned to stop or run on Von Konitz, but road and reconstruction of the old hospital building into a senior citizens living center is expected to produce an extended detour here.  On the opposite side of the road, a short walk ahead from the Senior Citizens stop is James B. Edwards Elem. School.

Many medical Offices located near the old hospital location can be reached by a short walk to the West from the stop near the intersection of Von Kolnitz and Hospital Drive.

After passing the school, the bus turns left and passes through the parking area of the new East Cooper Hospital and Medical Complex.   For those needing to transfer from the bus to a helicopter, the hospital’s landing pad is just to your left after the Hospital.

The bus goes through a round-a-bout to travel under the Interstate 536 overpass on Mathis Ferry Road to Whipple Road, where it turns left by the old Wando High School Campus, now the home to Laing Middle School and Buist Academy.  There are two stops on Whipple serving Apartment complexes along that road and the Town Tennis Complex opposite.

It travels a mile North on Whipple to Long Point and a left turn. On Long Point it passes Seacoast Church, the Belle Hall Shopping Center and the Creative Spark Center for the Arts before turning on to Egypt Road. The short run on Egypt takes the bus to the stop serving the Jones Recreational Center, Belle Hall Elementary School, East Cooper Baptist Church and Palmetto Christian Academy.

Snowden and Long Point Road

The bus turns right, East, into the historic community of Snowden, a freedman’s settlement founded after the Civil War, now over 140 years old. Historic Flipper Chapel is located here. You will pass some unusual community businesses and a remarkable topiary tree on the right. The Snowden Community Center is also on the right.

The Bus leaves Snowden to return to Long Point road, now traveling East. You’ll cross Boone Creek. The Snee Farm country clubs signature golf hole is visible projecting into the marsh on the right side of the road as you cross the creek.  Past the Creek is a stop at the entrance to Boone Hall Plantation, six hundred acres which is a home to history, numerous community events and agriculture. On the opposite side is the National Park Service Administrated Charles Pinckney Historic Site, open to visitors at no cost. George Washington never slept here, but he did have breakfast. The Charles Pinckney Historic Site and Boone Hall may or may not have a stop, but it is a great place to visit.  We’ll update when arrangements for a badly needed formal stop are made in this area.

The bus will pass the rear entrance of the Snee Farm neighborhood before reaching Highway 17 where it will turn to the right, passing the great wall of Mount Pleasant, a half mile long masonry sound barrier which attempts to protect Snee Farm from road noise, unrelieved by landscaping or architectural fenistration. The Highway Dpt. Apparently ran out of money before they built the guard towers.

Sweetgrass District & Six Mile

In this area, you will see wooden Sweetgrass basket stands where local weaver’s sell their handmade baskets, crafted out of Palmetto Leaves, bulrush, precious sweet grass and pine needles. This coiled basket technique has been a local African America traditional craft for over 200 years and has African roots. You can purchase baskets at these stands or at Waterfront Park at the end of this route.

East Cooper Community Outreach is located at the stop just past the turn off Highway 17.  Founded after Hurricane Hugo in 1989, its a powerhouse of assistance to East Cooper Residents going through tough times with a free food pantry, medical clinic, dental clinic, free store and classrooms and offices for counseling and all sorts of social assistance, all accessable to those in need by two bus lines, the #401 and the #40 Trans Mount Pleasant.  ECCO is an active partner is the transit development effort East of the Cooper.

Next door is the Goodwill Store, which also helps those in need but sidelines as the largest supplier of worn blue jeans to the East Cooper Community.  During our last visit 100 linear feet were hanging on the rods, sorted by fade.

At six mile Road, the bus will turn left at a stop which affords an opportunity to transfer to the #40 bus inbound to Charleston. East Cooper Community Outreach’s (ECCO’s) medical & dental clinics, opportunity facilities and food bank are located here, helping local families recover from misfortune since Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Next door is good will with opportunity for their employees and clients as well as bargains for the shopper. They’re popular for their 130 foot long fade level sorted blue jean selection. It’s a lot of denim.

Six Mile is another of the four traditional African American settlement areas on this route which have been organized communities here since after the American Civil War. Each is a cherished repository of local heritage and culture, with extended families living close to each other, community businesses and churches which are central to community life.

Hungryneck Blvd.

Past ECCO and Goodwill, the bus turns on to Hungryneck Blvd. The road is named after Mount Pleasant’s impoverished farmers, who struggled with the sandy soil and low rainfall in this part of Mount Pleasant, between the Ocean and Wando River. Crops often failed to grow here. Farmers on the neck often went hungry, giving Mount Pleasant residents their colloquial, but little used nickname.

On Hungryneck, you will pass the Charleston County Service Center which houses a magistrate’s court, County treasurer’s office, Highway Dpt. Office and Emergency Medical Services unit. It is located on the corner of Hungryneck and the IOP Connector, named after long time IOP legislator, Clyde Dangerfield.

Town Center, Shopping & Connections to #402 & #40

Past the connector, the route goes on the South side of and through Mt. Pleasant Town Center, where it connects for the fourth time with the #40 line, it’s big brother route with which our community bus line loves to have frequent contact.

A Tourist’s Magic Bench

There is a stop on the right side of the road, just past the connector with a wooden bench which provides a convenient place to wait for the inbound #40, as well as access to the three hotels and BI-LO Supermarket nearby.  If you are planning to visit the Charleston area as a tourist and want to have it all, this is your place.  The #40 runs from this location to Downtown Charleston and back.  The #401 takes you all round Mount Pleasant from that bench and the #402 runs you right out to the beach, while you still enjoy discount prices for your hotel.  Since the City of Charleston has chosen to make travel downtown on it’s extensive DASH bus system free and the city streets are a tourists dream and a driver’s nightmare you don’t want to take your car downtown anyway.  If you are lucky enough to get a room near the intersection of the IOP Connector and Hungryneck Blvd. you can have it all, with fantastic transit connections to everywhere and a hotel room at bargain prices.  Here is a link to a nearby location on Google Maps if you want to look around at the many options of this location.  The exact location is 32.831,-79.824919.

Town Center has over 50 shops, restaurants and businesses, including the East Cooper area’s largest book store, a Barnes and Nobel and a 12 screen Cinema, the Palmetto Grande.

At Town Center you can dismount the 401 to travel on the 402 Beach Bus to the Isle of Palms front beach park and commercial district and by flex bus reservation to all of the Isle of Palms and historic Sullivan’s Island, including Ft. Moultrie, made famous in the American Revolution and Civil War.  To do this, get off at the Market Center Road stop and walk 250 feet north to the Stops for the #40 Trans Mount Pleasant and the #402 Island Flex (Bus to the Beach) near Carvel Ice Cream.

The 401 route continues on Hungryneck Blvd., passing Lowes on the right and a Mount Pleasant Water Commission tank facility on the left. The road bisects the remnants of Four Mile, another African American settlement area, at Venning Road, shredded by the road project. Past Venning the bus turns left on to Mid Town Blvd. passing through what will be the new mixed use community, Central Mount Pleasant and Watermark, both on the left several hundred sidewalked feet forward of the stop. Wando Crossing Shopping Center can be reached by a short path on the right.

After exiting Mid Town, the 401 route returns to the handle part of this baby rattle shaped Route, running on Bowman, Chuck Dawley, Myrick Road, Ben Sawyer and Coleman Blvd. as previously described, in the opposite direction.

Patriot’s Point, Hotels & Waterfront Memorial Park

The Route Continues past Houston Northcutt until it reaches and turns left on to Patriot’s Point Blvd. At Patriot’s Point the route passes a hotel which provides great access to transit oriented visitors who also want to walk on Wonder’s Way, the spectacular pedestrian and bikeway on the dramatic Ravenel Bridge. Wonder’s way is a pedestrian and cycling link between Mount Pleasant and Charleston, its history worn neighboring city across the Wando and Cooper rivers. From the Wonder’s Way on the Ravenel Bridge you can see “where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers come together to form the Atlantic Ocean” as well as Ft. Sumter and the aircraft carrier Yorktown.

While traveling through Patriot’s Point the 401 passes the stop serving the Patriot’s Point Maritime and History Museum, the College of Charleston Baseball and Soccer Stadiums, the Town of Mount Pleasant athletic fields, a wonderful nature trail running a mile to a harbor overlook, a golf course and harbor front hotel, all within walkable distance on a functional sidewalk network.

The route turns right on to Harry Hallman Blvd. to enter Waterfront Memorial Park, product of Mount Pleasant Town Councilman Gary Santos’ vision to turn the area under and around the new bridge into a waterfront civic signature space which ultimately honored the late Mayor who grew to understand that his town had to be more than a bedroom community. The park features the Sweetgrass Pavilion, which shelters working basket makers, as well as a 1200 foot fishing pier, playground war memorial and visitor’s center.

Discount CARTA bus passes can be purchased at the visitor’s center, which if used intensely can return huge savings to the rider over regular fares.

After the park, the route runs on Wingo Way, past a number of conveniently located hotels to a turn on to Houston Northcut where it returns to Mount Town Hall, its’ Western connection to the #40 route and the beginning of the route.

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