How cutting down trees could save lives
With the start of the new year, The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette today will preview some of the biggest local issues expected to impact the lives of residents, workers, business owners and tourists in Beaufort County and surrounding areas. Following is one of 17 issues to watch in 2017:
The S.C. Department of Transportation had slated construction for a safety project along Jasper County’s stretch of Interstate 95 to begin in 2016, but delays pushed the project back.
The project began after an investigation by The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette found that more drivers died along the small stretch of the interstate — known as the “coffin corridor” — than in all other areas of the interstate in South Carolina combined.
Trees hugging the Jasper County section of highway were far less forgiving to cars veering off the road, leaving drivers with too little time to correct themselves, the newspapers’ analysis found.
Representatives from DOT now say a project to cut down trees and install cable barriers along the stretch will begin at the end of this summer. Whether the project will face further delays remains to be seen.
Kelly Meyerhofer: 843-706-8136, @KellyMeyerhofer
March 1-2, 2015 Only 35 miles of Interstate 95 run through Jasper County. But the short stretch is deadly -- because of trees. More motorists are dying in tree-related wrecks along this main artery to Hilton Head Island than anywhere else along I-95 in South Carolina. And nothing is being done to reverse the deadly trend. Our two-day series explores the emotional and financial costs of the wrecks and why fixing it is harder than you'd think. | READ
This story was originally published December 31, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "How cutting down trees could save lives."