This dangerous Myrtle Beach-area intersection is about to get a big safety upgrade
A dangerous intersection along one of Horry County’s most heavily used roads is expected to become much safer thanks to a multi-million adjust by state transportation officials.
Details of the plan to realign U.S. Highway 501 at Cannon Road were the subject of a listening session by the S.C. Department of Transportation held Sept. 1.
The work is expected to dramatically reduce collisions
Between 2014 and 2018, the intersection logged 84 total crashes, with half involving an injury of some sort. As part of the project, the nearby U.S. 501 intersection with 3rd Avenue S. is set to be recalibrated, allowing more U-turn traffic off Cannon Road.
Engineers say the plan will virtually halve the number of conflict points along the area from 32 now to 18.
Officials plan to install a center median as well.
Fixing the intersection is a top priority for the state
The work, expected to cost around $2 million, is being paid for with funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s highway safety improvement program. Officials will spend much of the next year acquiring rights-of-way to prepare for a late 2023 construction start date, and it should take about eight months to complete.
It’s among several safety improvements ventures expected to be done by 2024, including work on Mr. Joe White Ave. and at 21st Ave. All are projected to dramatically cut down on crashes while giving cyclists and pedestrians safer passage as they traverse through the city’s heart.
South Carolina has some of America’s deadliest roads
The Palmetto State’s notoriously dangerous roads have the state pegged as the second most lethal to drive in, logging 1,064 total traffic deaths in 2020, according to information published in March by the Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Officials are hopeful that creating a “reduced conflict intersection” on Cannon Road while installing a southbound U-turn lane on 3rd Avenue would make each thoroughfare much safer, reducing crash potentials by 75 and 17 percent.
This story was originally published September 3, 2022 at 5:00 AM.