New traffic patterns prove deadly for motorists
Don't miss
For the better part of the past three years, they've picked their way through widening projects on U.S. 278 in Bluffton and on S.C.170 in Okatie as well as road work along U.S. 21 near Burton. And they'll continue to do so with the building of the new Hilton Head Island bridge flyover now underway.
Although Beaufort County's construction zones are dangerous and wrecks happen in them, it's once the cones are removed that the most treacherous wrecks occur, said Maj. Joseph Manning of the Bluffton Police Department.
While construction is going on, drivers are moving much slower and are paying greater attention, said Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner.
"But when road construction ends and they remove the barrels, what happens is the attention span decreases and the speed increases, and then you have a problem," he said. "People get much more relaxed even though they are not very familiar with the changes."
Story continues after interactive graphic
Beaufort County traffic engineer Colin Kinton said he agrees that construction -- and largely the changing traffic patterns it brings -- can lead to many serious, and often fatal, wrecks.
Manning and Tanner said construction was a primary factor in the majority of wrecks they've seen in recent years -- especially in 2014. The number of fatal wrecks in Beaufort County nearly doubled last year: 22 compared to 12 in 2013.
Manning largely attributes that to the newly widened U.S. 278 through Bluffton.
"One of the main areas we were seeing the serious accidents were on U.S. 278 and S.C. 170, when people were getting used to the new traffic patterns and how things had changed," Manning said. "But now as people are getting more used to the roads, that seems to be helping to have fewer accidents."
Tanner said that any time lanes are added to a road -- which accounts for many of the construction projects in Beaufort County -- people drive faster because it becomes easier for them to do so.
That has been the case on U.S. 278, for example, and will be on S.C. 170, he said.
That requires law enforcement to be more visible and encourage drivers to follow the speed limits, according to Tanner.
Local agencies also work with the county and state Department of Transportation to improve safety once construction is complete, erecting new signage and adding lighting.
Those improvements, as well as drivers becoming accustomed to the new traffic patterns, should mean fewer fatal wrecks, Manning said.
But officials know the completion of other ongoing projects -- such as S.C. 170 and the flyover -- will yield similar dangers and challenges that they will need to address, he added.
"Right now S.C. 170 is our biggest issue because it's still under construction and should be finishing up in the next couple months, so there will be some areas people aren't familiar with," Manning said. "So we will be out there educating people and just doing traffic enforcement and being visible."
Related Content:
- Traffic fatalities bounced back up in Beaufort County, the state in 2014, December 29, 2014
- Police, troopers increase traffic enforcement on US 278, July 24, 2014
- SC 170 completion in Bluffton delayed -- again, December 14, 201
This story was originally published March 7, 2015 at 7:45 PM with the headline "New traffic patterns prove deadly for motorists."