COASTAL OBSERVER

There were over 55,000 crashes on roads in Georgetown and Horry counties between 2019 and 2023; 269 were fatal. Among the dead were 86 cyclists or pedestrians.

State and local transportation agencies have data on each of the crashes, but at a meeting next week they are looking for public input about ways to make the roads safer.

“You can fall in love with the data, and it’s not necessarily everything,” said Mark Hoeweler, executive director of the Grand Strand Area Transportation Study.

The intergovernmental group is responsible for allocating federal funds for transportation projects in the region and Brunswick County, N.C. In 2022, it received $725,000 from a federal Safe Streets 4 All grant and state matching funds to create an action plan to reduce fatalities.

That plan is being developed by AECOM, the engineering firm that updated a study of the Highway 17 corridor on the Waccamaw Neck. Once completed, the plan will allow GSATS to seek additional funds for improvement projects.

That could be up to $30 million for an “implementation project,” Hoeweler said, provided they could come up with the $6 million local match.

One thing that the consultants hope to gather from the public is “hard braking data.” Those are places where drivers apply the brakes suddenly, he said, not necessarily places where crashes occur.

They are also trying to gather “near miss data,” which could require setting up cameras or reviewing footage from existing traffic cameras.

The meeting Aug. 5 at the Waccamaw Library is a chance for people to explain “where they think there are issues and problems,” Hoeweler said.

The goal of the federal grant is to eliminate fatalities.  Hoeweler said that may not be realistic.

A review of the accident data showed that a large portion were due to speeding, driving under the influence, failing to yield or other violations.

“It would satisfy me if we could actually reduce the numbers,” he said.

Those numbers have increased along with the region’s population. The rate of crashes based on the number of miles driven has remained steady, Hoeweler said.

Funding of the action plan could include changes to road design, lighting, pavement markings and signage. A candidate for a demonstration grant would be an expansion of the system in place in Georgetown County that gives fire and rescue vehicles priority at traffic signals.

“Another thing we’re looking at is what happens post-crash,” Hoeweler said. “Getting people to the trauma center.”

Georgetown County used $1 million in surplus funds from a capital projects sales tax to install an Opticom system in 2021. Devices were installed at traffic signals and on emergency vehicles.

A Safe Streets grant could extend that system into Horry County, where trauma patients from Georgetown County must be transported.

The elements of the action plan will be incorporated into the region’s long-range transportation plans even if they don’t receive Safe Streets funding, Hoeweler said.

A crash Sunday night at the intersection of Highway 17 and Business 17 in Murrells Inlet left one person dead and two others injured. The intersection was recommended for change in a 2003 study of the Highway 17 corridor.

The 2021 update by AECOM showed that the angled westbound crossing from Business 17 to Highway 17 had a failed level of service, with a delay of over five minutes per vehicle. 

Realigning the intersection and installing a traffic light would cut the delay in half. It would also improve overall safety, the consultants said. They recommended it in a package of improvements that was adopted by Georgetown County Council.

“That’s been a problem for years,” Hoeweler said. “DOT has been looking at it, observing it.”

The Aug. 5 meeting will be a drop-in from 5 to 7 p.m.