The familiar Sunday drive to Summerville’s restaurant row got a lot more complicated this weekend when a train derailment forced the closure of Highway 78, cutting off one of the main arteries connecting Charleston to Dorchester County’s dining scene.

The highway has since reopened in both directions after crews spent Sunday clearing the aftermath of the derailment, according to the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office. The closure stretched from Jedburg Road to Deming Way, effectively bottlenecking traffic that normally flows between Charleston and Summerville’s growing Food & Dining destinations.

For anyone who’s made the trek up 78 for a weekend meal, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Sunday brunch traffic typically swells along this corridor as Charlestonians venture beyond the peninsula for everything from Southern comfort food to innovative farm-to-table concepts that have been sprouting up in Summerville’s revitalized downtown.

“We had several customers call asking about alternate routes,” said a spokesperson for one popular Summerville restaurant. “Sunday is usually our busiest day, so any disruption to the main highway affects foot traffic.”

The derailment underscores how interconnected the Charleston region’s dining ecosystem has become. What started as a purely local food scene centered around the Historic District has expanded into a network that spans multiple counties, with Highway 78 serving as a crucial link.

Summerville has emerged as a dining destination in its own right over the past decade, attracting chefs who want more space and lower overhead than downtown Charleston offers. The town’s restaurant scene mirrors broader trends happening across the Charleston area, where established institutions sometimes close while new concepts take root in unexpected locations.

The train tracks that caused Sunday’s disruption run parallel to much of Highway 78, carrying freight that includes agricultural products bound for Charleston’s port. It’s the same rail network that historically connected the Lowcountry’s rice and cotton plantations to markets beyond South Carolina, though these days the cargo is more likely to be soybeans and manufactured goods.

For local restaurant owners, transportation disruptions like Sunday’s derailment serve as reminders of how dependent they are on smooth traffic flow. Unlike downtown Charleston, where visitors might walk between restaurants, Summerville’s dining scene relies heavily on customers willing to make the drive from Charleston, Mount Pleasant, and other nearby communities.

The closure also affected local food suppliers making Sunday deliveries. Several Charleston-based distributors had to reroute trucks carrying everything from fresh seafood to specialty ingredients, adding time and fuel costs to their usual runs.

Dorchester County has been working to improve infrastructure along the Highway 78 corridor as development continues to boom. New shopping centers and restaurant clusters have popped up regularly along the route, each adding to the traffic load that the aging roadway carries.

Sunday’s derailment cleanup involved multiple agencies coordinating to clear derailed cars and inspect the tracks for damage before normal freight service could resume. The sheriff’s office worked with railroad crews and the South Carolina Department of Transportation to minimize the closure time.

Restaurant industry veterans know that any disruption to weekend traffic can significantly impact weekly revenue, especially for establishments that depend on customers traveling from other parts of the Charleston metro area. Sunday brunch and dinner service often make or break a restaurant’s weekly numbers.

The incident also highlighted how Charleston’s dining scene has grown beyond traditional boundaries. Just as high-profile chefs now launch residencies at downtown hotels, local food enthusiasts increasingly think nothing of driving twenty or thirty minutes for a good meal, whether that’s heading up 78 to Summerville or across the Cooper River to Mount Pleasant.

For now, Highway 78 is flowing normally again, and the Sunday evening crowd was able to make their usual restaurant runs without detours. The railroad company has completed its track inspections, and freight service has resumed its normal schedule.

Drivers heading to Summerville’s restaurants should expect normal traffic patterns, though the incident serves as a reminder that the region’s dining destinations are connected by infrastructure that occasionally reminds everyone of its presence.

The Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that no injuries occurred during the derailment, and environmental teams found no hazardous material spills from the incident.