Is Carolina Forest traffic truly awful? Here are the actual traffic counts

Locals residents say the traffic on Carolina Forest Boulevard is unbearable and want the county council to block future housing developments until road infrastructure needs are addressed.

Traffic studies back up some of those complaints, showing that traffic has nearly doubled near River Oaks Drive since 2007, from 8,700 daily trips to 15,400 trips in 2015.

Congestion also thickens around the commercial areas near Postal Way. But those numbers have barely budged since 2008 when the count was 24,000.

The studies also back complaints that traffic grows significantly during the school year when parents shuttle children to classes — about 20,000 daily trips around the Carolina Forest Elementary School.

However, recent studies show that the traffic count between River Oaks and Turnberry Park is around 15,000 a day.

County officials say that Carolina Forest is a heavily traveled road, but note that it’s not even at capacity. The Carolina Forest development plan allows for an additional 3,500 homes to be constructed in the community that nears a population of 33,000.

“That just states the need that our planning commission and the county council needs to put a freeze or a slowing down of any more rezoning implications, because there’s already approvals out there to do that many more homes, which the roadways and the infrastructure can’t support,” said Carol vanSickler, president of the Carolina Forest Civic Association.

The association released a survey of local residents last week that shows infrastructure and public safety are their top concerns.

“It creates a quality of life and a safety issue,” vanSickler said. “More traffic, more accidents. How many times have we seen accidents at the Postal Way intersection?”

County councilmen say they can’t stop development that was part of the original plan 20 years ago when Carolina Forest construction began, but they will take a closer look at rezoning requests for residential areas outside of that development area that feeds into forest roads.

“I think their argument is valid, especially when you look at combining road construction with (housing) construction at the same time, it just doubles more trucks in the same area,” said Mark Lazarus, Horry County Council chairman.

To try and minimize traffic congestion while Carolina Forest is widened and Postal Way extended, Lazarus said they will consider rezoning from commercial to residential on a case-by-case basis.

“We’re listening to the residents, their voices have been heard,” Lazarus said. “They came out in numbers, and I think the council, especially the representatives from those areas, are listening.”

Lazarus was referring to a proposed rezoning request from commercial to residential for property that aligns the Postal Way road extension. Carolina Forest residents turned out in force to object to the request.

That rezoning has been rejected by the county planning commission. The issue went to council earlier this month, but the developers asked that it be pulled from the agenda.

A more updated traffic count along Carolina Forest Boulevard is currently underway by county officials, who will use it to design the road-widening project set to begin in one year.

Traffic counts by the S.C. Transportation Department show the heaviest traveled state road in Horry County is restaurant row on Highway 17 to Lake Arrowhead Road, which saw 55,100 daily trips recorded last year.

Although U.S. Highway 501 is a constant complaint of congestion for commuters, state officials counted 46,200 cars there in 2016 from S.C. Highway 544 to S.C. Highway 31.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Is Carolina Forest traffic truly awful? Here are the actual traffic counts."