Letter: Bluffton intersection chaotic and dangerous

Before doing anything more with installing a sidewalk on Buck Island Road in Bluffton, an immediate priority must be given to improving its intersection with U.S. 278.

It’s becoming a very tense situation there and the prospect of a serious injury caused by a traffic accident or road rage is real. It took me three lights to make the left. Courtesy is gone and the drivers exiting the commercial tract at that intersection are at special risk.

The green light for traffic entering U.S. 278 is very quick. Drivers making illegal left turns from the middle lane to go west on U.S. 278 is becoming a frequent sight. The scene when the light turns green for Buck Island Road is too chaotic to describe. Horns are blowing, hands are pointing and the unheard language is comprehended.

I suggest the following measures be considered to end this insanity:

1. Buck Island Road must be widened with additional lanes at the intersection of U.S. 278.

2. The middle lane must be changed to permit drivers to go straight or make a legal left turn onto U.S. 278 west.

3. Similar to the pattern used at Simmonsville Road, the traffic turning left onto U.S. 278 west must be given priority for a minute while traffic exiting Belfair still has a red light.

This story was originally published February 3, 2017 at 9:40 AM with the headline "Letter: Bluffton intersection chaotic and dangerous."