COASTAL OBSERVER

Two of the most congested roads in the region meet in Murrells Inlet.

A formula adopted by the regional agency that allocates money to road projects is intended to ensure funding is available for improvements.

Highway 707, which starts at Business 17, has the second highest level of congestion of 60 road segments reviewed by the Grand Strand Area Transportation Study, an intergovernmental agency that covers Georgetown, Horry and Brunswick counties.

Just before the Horry County line, Highway 707 intersects with Bypass 17, which ranks No. 11 for congestion.

Those rankings will be considered when GSATS staff and local government representatives prioritize funding.

“This is a federal requirement,” said Mark Hoeweler, executive director of GSATS. “What they want to see done is that you use it in your project selection.”

A $4.2 million project to reconfigure the intersection was a top priority among $53.3 million in improvements for Highway 17 along the Waccamaw Neck in a 2021 corridor study commissioned by GSATS. Georgetown County Council adopted the recommendations, but only sought funding for two projects: a change to the Litchfield Drive intersection and removal of a median cut south of Hagley.

Widening Bypass 17 to six lanes between Highway 707 and Bellamy Avenue was also among the corridor study’s recommendations.

The agency’s congestion management plan was revised this year.

“The initial plan didn’t have a lot of the data that’s become available,” Hoeweler said.

Highway 707 is listed as “severe congestion” all the way through Horry County.

Bypass 17 is shown as “severe congestion” from Brookgreen Gardens north to the county line.  The highway has a capacity of 33,600 vehicles a day. Peak volume in 2019 was 35,160 trips. That is expected to increase to 41,175 trips in the next 10 years. As a result, the level of service is projected to decline from a D to an E.

The congestion on the portion of Bypass 17 that extends into Horry County is about the same. It ranks No. 13.

Highway 17 from Brookgreen Gardens to Hagley ranks outside the top 25, and its congestion is rated “moderate.” But the level of service is forecast to decline in the next decade.

The congestion management plan encourages alternatives to expanding the roads to improve traffic flow, such as growth management, public transportation and improved signal systems.

“Adaptive-reactive” signals aren’t included as an option for Bypass 17. There are too many turning movements to make those effective, Hoeweler said.

Growth management wasn’t included as an option either.

“Maybe they’ve given up,” Hoeweler said.

But he pointed out that some road segments in Horry County are forecast to have reduced congestion in the next 10 years.  That is due to projects funded by that county’s transportation sales tax, known as RIDE.