We're not about to predict that the State Ports Authority's years of frustration over expansion plans are nearing an end. But there were some positive developments this week on a critical access road needed for the new North Charleston terminal. Further, legislation aimed at ending Jasper County's dispute with the SPA over a major new port facility there will be introduced next week in the House of Representatives. It should be clear shortly whether the tide is indeed turning, as it should, in the SPA's favor.

In order to resolve concerns of the adjoining North Charleston neighborhood, the SPA agreed that the terminal there would not open without the access road, which avoids the residential areas. On Thursday, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control rejected a developer's appeal of the DHEC permit for the 1.5 mile road. Meanwhile, the House Ways and Means Committee added $138 million to the $5 million allocated last year for its construction. The total cost has been estimated at $282 million, a figure legislative leaders say they hope can be reduced.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell tells us that he and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman met with transportation consultants in hopes of determining whether the road's high price can be lowered. But he said much of the cost is driven by the need to have the expansion plan permitted by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, which requires that adverse impacts on nearby neighborhoods be avoided. The hope is to get the cost in the $235 million range.

The House leader noted that the SPA requested the funding over a two-year period. The Legislature, he said, needs to show the Corps that there is a major financial commitment to the road as part of the effort to get a successful ruling on the permit in April.

The speaker also is following through on an earlier pledge to hasten the resolution of a dispute between the SPA and Jasper County. The county previously attempted to condemn land there - owned by the state of Georgia - for a terminal to be developed by a private shipping company. Not only has the state Supreme Court ruled that the condemnation of property for the benefit of a private entity would be unconstitutional, it subsequently found that SPA has the superior right of condemnation over Jasper County. The county, which subsequently said it would be the port operator, still wants to condemn the 1,800-acre tract and has tried to stop the SPA's condemnation procedure.

The Harrell legislation would make it clear that the Legislature wants the SPA to develop the Jasper port and would establish a time line the authority has to meet. The benchmarks are aimed at resolving fears being stirred up in some quarters that the SPA isn't serious about the Jasper project.

At the least, the legislation would settle an acrimonious battle among South Carolina government agencies and allow the SPA to concentrate its efforts toward resolving the condemnation issue with the state of Georgia. While the development of the North Charleston terminal is considered vital to the short-term health of the port, the much larger Jasper project is the state's insurance that it will be competitive for the long haul. Both projects have been too tenuous for too long.