Did upgrades to these Beaufort County highways reduce crashes? Here’s the data
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Beaufort County Traffic
As Beaufort county’s population has grown in recent years, bringing more vehicles to the roads, the diverse mix of drivers are contributing to the increase in traffic volume at intersections.
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Five months after one of Beaufort County’s busiest intersections got a makeover, crash reports show fewer vehicle collisions — but more people getting hurt.
The intersection of S.C. 170 and U.S. 278 has long been a source of frustration — and danger — for drivers in Beaufort County. Hoping to fix that, the county completed a major redesign in November 2024, adding a free-flow lane, traffic light and median to improve traffic flow and reduce crashes. Two cantilevers and a shoulder sign were also added in early- to mid-March after a delay due to supply chain issues. New data suggests that while drivers got into fewer accidents, the ones that did happen were more serious.
A comparison of state Department of Public Safety data from January to March in 2024 and 2025 — before and after the upgrades — shows that total collisions dropped from nine to six. However, the number of people injured after the new additions went up, rising from just one in early 2024 to three during the same period in 2025. That uptick mirrored a similar trend in 2023, which also saw one person injured in the first quarter.
The intersection ranks among the top 10 most dangerous in Beaufort County over the last two years, according to an Island Packet analysis. It placed sixth in most collisions from January 2020 to July 22, 2024, when compared to other intersections on the county’s top 10 list.
In 2023, the intersection saw 35 collisions, 10 injuries and no fatalities. In 2024, there were 32 collisions, six injuries and one fatality. So far in 2025, through March, there have been six collisions, three injuries and no deaths.
County Director of Engineering Bryan Bauer said the county plans to start looking into the impacts of the new additions after April, once more data is available.
“I think we have seen some improvements in traffic flow,” he said. “We have looked at the intersections further down 170 near Argent, and the improvements that we made there — with the additional signal and signal improvements — have seen a decrease in traffic times overall at that section.”
This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 12:22 PM.
