CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Charleston city officials are considering a move to allow golf carts on the Ashley River Road Bike Path. Currently, state law prohibits it.

But West Ashley residents in the Shadowmoss and Village Green neighborhoods say they’ve used golf carts on the path for years to take kids to and from Drayton Hall Elementary School without any issue.

For the last two and a half years, a golf cart commute to Drayton Hall Elementary School took the Burkhart family only 10 minutes each day.

In December, city officials planted three posts in the middle of the path, blocking access for golf carts and other large, motorized vehicles.

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We were given no warning, Melissa Burkhart said.

“When I have to take a vehicle, it’s like about 30 minutes in the morning with the traffic and then also about 40 minutes in the afternoon if I have to pick him up,” Burkhart said.

City Councilman Stephen Bowden, who represents these neighborhoods, said residents rely on golf carts as a mode of transportation as congestion and connectivity issues increase in West Ashley.

“If you don’t live in outer West Ashley, you might not realize that we have a two-lane road [Highway 61] that serves something like 50,000 cars a day,” Bowden said.

Burkhart said eliminating path access for golf carts will only increase existing problems.

“There are about 20 or more golf carts that are there daily, so that’s what you’re adding to the pickup line, to the traffic on Highway 61, to Muirfield Parkway, which everyone already complains about,” she said.

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In an effort to compromise, the city’s traffic and transportation committee is drafting a possible amendment under the state law that would allow golf cart use on the section of the path connected to Drayton Hall’s campus.

“We have flexibility as a city to do what works and that’s our fundamental obligation to citizens,” Bowden said.

Still, in the committee’s Jan. 28 meeting, council members agreed they must be careful in the language they use so they don’t open the door for increased golf cart use across the entire city.

“It wouldn’t work downtown. It wouldn’t work on James Island, but it works here,” Bowden said.

Charleston’s traffic and transportation committee is expected to discuss the item again in its next meeting.