Motorists were stuck for so long on this St. Helena road Monday they had time to order food
A crash on Sea Island Parkway late Monday afternoon was the talk of the Sea Islands after it closed the road for hours and brought traffic to a standstill as rush hour approached.
Motorists reported being unable to move for two hours and were frustrated as few details were released through public alerts about the cause as they waited.
The delay was so long that one person who was stuck in traffic told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet that some motorists were getting out of their vehicles in the Frogmore area to go order food at the nearby Parker’s Kitchen and returning to their vehicles. “That’s how slow it was,” they reported.
Cpl. Nick Pye of the South Carolina Highway Patrol provided details of the crash that caused the traffic nightmare Tuesday morning.
A tow truck collided with a vehicle on Sea Island Parkway near Warsaw Island Road at 12:42 p.m., Pye said.
There were no injuries, Pye said. However, diesel fuel leaked from the tow truck and the spill took a few hours to clean up, which caused of the traffic delays on the two-lane road, Pye said.
As a result of concerns about the fuel reaching the marsh adjacent to the road, dirt needed to be hauled in to prevent the fuel from reaching the marsh, Pye said. The state Department of Natural Resources was called to the scene, Pye said. The DNR, he said, confirmed that no fuel reached the marsh.
Beaufort police reported the road reopening at 3:48 p.m. but cautioned the public at that time that traffic delays would continue for another 30 minutes to an hour.
