Grand Strand officials give green light to fix Tournament Boulevard congestion

Grand Strand officials agreed Friday to find a solution and the funding necessary to reduce traffic jams along Tournament Boulevard and McDowell Shortcut Road.

The Grand Strand Area Transportation Study (GSAT) Policy Committee voted unanimously that recommendations be presented to them by March on how to relieve the daily backups from U.S. 17 Bypass to the four-way intersection and beyond.

Nearly 80 residents and their state representative who was armed with 300 letters attended the committee’s meeting to complain about the traffic jams, and warned that when a new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market on Tournament Boulevard opens, the problems will become unbearable.

“It’s only a matter of time before there’s a fatal car accident at this intersection,” said Raymond Smith with the International Club HOA.

Charles Ferrera said officials should consider a traffic light or widening the road to three lanes.

“Help us with this intersection,” Ferrera said. “That choke point ... is a nightmare.”

State Rep. Russell Fry, R-Surfside Beach, said with a new fire station opening later this year on McDowell Shortcut Road, the congested four-way intersection could turn the daily traffic jams into a public safety issue.

“If we can’t get fire trucks to [U.S.] 17 in a timely manner, we will have real problems,” Fry said. “Let’s fix this thing.”

Residents have criticized Horry County for approving permits for the new Wal-Mart without requiring the store to address increased traffic congestion along the roads.

Mark Lazarus, Horry County Council chairman, said the criticism is unfounded.

“There have been a few dispersions thrown our way,” Lazarus said. “I want to make sure everyone understands the legalities of certain things.”

Lazarus said Wal-Mart agreed to do off-site improvements at the traffic light on U.S. 17 Bypass at the company’s expense “as part of being a good neighbor.”

“We can’t go in and require them to do something beyond the boundaries of their property under current zoning laws — that’s illegal,” Lazarus said.

County officials came up with preliminary designs including a widening of the roads to four lanes, which Lazarus said was estimated to cost $22 million.

Widening the road is one option the panel will consider, as well as traffic lights.

County officials said they will work with the state transportation department as well as GSAT to find a funding source once plans have been finalized to address the congestion.

The state transportation department maintains Tournament Boulevard from the McDowell Shortcut to U.S. 17 Bypass and McDowell Shortcut to S.C. 707.

“We’re behind, but it’s not too late,” Lazarus said of the county’s efforts to address the traffic.

“We will get something done and get a fix done permanently for you sometime in the future, I just can’t (set) a timeline right now until we find the funding source,” Lazarus told the audience.

State transportation officials also completed a study in January to determine if constructing a roundabout at the four-way stop would ease congestion, and concluded that it would not.

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Grand Strand officials give green light to fix Tournament Boulevard congestion."