The $198 million Crosstown drainage project is finished

City leaders marked the completion of the US 17 Spring and Fishburne drainage improvement project, Charleston's largest stormwater project at roughly $198 million and more than two decades in the making. The new William Dudley Gregorie Pump Station can move 360,000 gallons a minute into the Ashley River and serves nearly 550 acres, about a fifth of the peninsula.

Why this matters here

Flooding on the Crosstown has cost peninsula businesses staff hours, deliveries and customers for years. Officials are clear that this does not end flooding, but say water should leave the streets faster, which means shorter versions of the days that used to shut a block down.