Speed limit will drop to 40 mph on Buck Island Road

A request by the town of Bluffton to lower the speed limit on Buck Island and Simmonsville roads to 35 mph before a new middle school opens in the fall was denied, according to the S.C. Department of Transportation.

The town asked the state to lower the limit from 40 mph to 35 mph on Simmonsville Road and from 45 to 35 mph on Buck Island Road. Based on a state study in January, the DOT determined the speed limit should be lowered only on Buck Island between Bluffton Parkway and Simmonsville Road, from 45 to 40 mph.

The school, at 30 New Mustang Lane, lies between Simmonsville and Buck Island roads. The state plans to post the new speed limit and school zone signs and paint crosswalks before the school opens in August. Flashing beacons -- signaling a reduction of the speed limit to 30 mph within the school zones during certain hours -- also will be installed.

"They took the request a little more seriously because the school is involved," Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka said. "But I would have loved it to be 35 because it's a residential community. The residents want the road to be safe."

Jesse Washington, a spokesman for the Beaufort County School District, said the district asked for lower speed limits for students' safety.

"They did lower Buck Island to 40, so we're pleased with their response," he said.

State studies look at a number of factors, such as accident history, roadside conditions, the density of nearby neighborhoods and average driving speeds when considering speed limits, according to Mark Nesbit, DOT district traffic engineer.

The Simmonsville Road study included a 48-hour survey of speed and traffic flow to determine the maximum safe speed for a two-mile stretch, Nesbit said. Although the limit is 40 mph, the study found that more than 55 percent of drivers were speeding, with an average speed of 46 mph.

The state said 92 crashes were reported on Simmonsville between Jan. 1, 2006, and Aug. 1, 2009, a high rate that the study attributed to the number of speeders.

The state recommended "selective enforcement" of the speed limit to reduce crashes. The Bluffton Police Department plans to do so, Sulka said.

"We don't want residents to think we're chasing them down," she said. "But we really need to make sure the public knows what the new limit is. When that school opens, everyone needs to know the limit and follow it."