Last Updated on 5/30/2012

Published on 2/22/2012

A forum that was held Tuesday night allowed the public to offer input on median improvements on U.S. Highway 17 South in the Pawleys Island/Litchfield area.
Money is now available to do away with the “suicide lanes,” that are now scattered along the highway, from Waverly Road to Martin Luther King Drive, according to traffic planners in Georgetown County.
At least 100 people gathered at Waccamaw Elementary School to look at maps and discuss solutions to the traffic gridlock and many accidents on U.S. Highway 17.
The lanes will be replaced with turn lanes, U-turn locations and landscaping in order to increase safety, said Mark Hoeweller, assistant director at Waccamaw Regional Council of Governments.
“We’re looking to alternatives to the dual left-hand turn lanes,” he said. “There is a safety issue, once you get a level of traffic volume on the road. They are really supposed to be for left turns. You’re not supposed to use them as an acceleration lane.”

Concern of traffic planners

Many drivers cross two lanes of traffic, wait in the open areas and then continue driving when traffic clears.
The issue has concerned traffic planners for the past several years.
There is currently $2.5 million in federal money to make the improvements, Hoeweller said. The money is available through guideshare money, which is allocated through S.C. Department of Transportation for highway improvements.
The money would be enough to do the stretch of highway, he said.
The timeline of the improvements was expected to be discussed Tuesday night.
A traffic management plan will be developed to keep the highway open during construction, Hoeweller said.
Work could start this summer and could take about a year.
“This is an option that will delay the need to add more lanes,” he said. “Adding more lanes was universally rejected by people in the Litchfield and Pawleys area. We want to preserve the capacity of that road without adding lanes in the future.”

Purpose of the meeting

The purpose of the meeting is to provide information and explore options for improving traffic conditions on U.S. 17 from Waverly Road to Baskervill Drive,” according to information from the DOT.
“Attendees will be encouraged to participate in the informal group discussions to help determine the best solutions for the project.  Another purpose of the meeting will be to gather information from the public or any interested organization on historic or cultural resources in the area.
“Based on public input from this meeting and engineering evaluations, a conceptual design will be developed. The concept plan will be shared with the public once it is developed.”

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For more information, the public may contact Program Manager Leah Quattlebaum  at (803) 737-1751.