Conway roundabout likely won’t be finished until 2017

The funky fork where Singleton Ridge and William Finlayson roads meet yields a familiar sight.

One driver tries to turn onto busy Singleton Ridge. Another at nearby Technology Boulevard has the same idea.

In the chaos and confusion, cars collide.

“There are so many accidents that occur there,” said Martha Lewis, a physical therapist who works at Next Step Rehabilitation near the problematic intersection. “Hopefully that traffic circle is going to help smooth that out.”

Conway City Council on Monday approved a $2,885,000 funding package for a roundabout at the spot where the three roads intersect.

Some council members were surprised by the steep price tag — it’s $1,115,000 over the initial budget — but they agreed the project is needed to alleviate traffic there. Over the last two years, emergency crews have responded to eight accidents at the site.

“This is one of the most dangerous intersections within our community,” Mayor Alys Lawson said. “Getting it accomplished is going to help a number of different entities.”

Conway is sharing the cost of the project with a variety of state and local agencies. City officials learned about the higher cost projections in March from the South Carolina Department of Transportation. The increases stem from steeper right of way acquisition prices and utility relocation expenses.

Once officials realized how much more the project would cost, the partners searched for additional funding sources with some success.

SCDOT secured a $200,000 federal grant and the Grand Strand Area Transportation Study (GSATS), an organization that funds regional road and infrastructure projects, chipped in an extra $595,000.

Conway leaders also plan to use some surplus materials on the project and assign city workers to relocate water lines, helping keep costs down.

“It’s a pretty wide scope,” City Administrator Bill Graham said of the groups contributing. “It’s such a needed improvement in that area.”

Although financing for the roundabout is in place, construction won’t begin until January and likely won’t be finished until the spring of 2017.

Even when the project is completed, some officials insist more must be done to alleviate the traffic problems on Singleton Ridge.

“This won’t be enough,” said Horry County Councilman Johnny Vaught, whose district includes the busy thoroughfare. “[The roundabout] is just to fix that problem with that intersection.”

Vaught doesn’t like the idea of a traffic circle there and even took his concerns to state highway officials. When they told him this was the best solution, he accepted it.

“That was all I could do,” he said.

The councilman, however, hopes to eventually see two-lane Singleton Ridge widened. Too often, he said, he sees ambulances struggling to navigate traffic to get to Conway Medical Center.

“It’s got to be at least three lanes,” he said of the road. “One turn lane and two traffic lanes, if not four lanes. That’s definitely something that’s got to happen because [the traffic circle] only fixes that intersection. It doesn’t fix the problem there in front of Conway Medical Center.”

But widening the road is merely a wish at this point. What is on the table is the roundabout, and those who work in the area hope the project begins to address Singleton Ridge’s challenges.

“They’re working on it,” Lewis, the therapist, said. “Any time you have an area that grows, those things come with growth. So that’s just part of it.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2015 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Conway roundabout likely won’t be finished until 2017."