Mayors Address Road Safety

It is certainly not news that Main and Bohicket Roads have safety concerns. To address these, Seabrook Island Mayor Ciancio and Kiawah Island Mayor Lipuma joined together to write South Carolina Department of Transportation to request a safety audit.

According to the Mayors: “Based on an analysis of SCDOT transportation data, TRIP (The Road Information Program), a non-profit research group, identified Main Road, Bohicket Road and the Betsy Kerrison Parkway 6th in the list of South Carolina secondary rural routes with the highest serious accident rates in the 2002 to 2006 study period. During the four (4) year study period, there were three hundred fourteen (314) injury crashes, twelve (12) fatalities and four hundred fifty-nine (459) people injured. Population and traffic on Johns Island have increased since that study was completed and both are expected to increase in the short and long term. Speed on the two roads in question, both higher and lower than signed, is a problem. Enforcement on these roads is almost impossible, as there is literally no room to pull anyone over without creating a more dangerous situation. “

Because these roads are so dangerous the Mayors request: “We would hope that a safety study, such as we have described herein, would lead to incremental safety improvements on Main and Bohicket. It goes without saying, but we feel it must be said, that what is being requested is not the ultimate solution to the problem of Johns Island roads. Nothing in this request should be interpreted as our abandonment of our pursuit of longer term solutions to the road problems, such as implementation of the so-called Johns Island Greenway. “

To read the full copy of the Mayors’ letter turn to:

March 22, 2016

Mr. Robert T. Clark
District Engineering Administrator, District 6
South Carolina Department of Transportation
6355 Fain Boulevard
N. Charleston, SC 29406-4989

Dear Mr. Clark:

This letter is a follow-up to our meeting on January 6th wherein Councilman Turner and I expressed concerns about the safety of Main and Bohicket Roads. At that time, you indicated that your office would be prepared to conduct a road safety audit (“RSA”) of Main and Bohicket Roads from Route 17 to Betsy Kerrison, if requested to do so. Accordingly, this letter shall serve as a formal request of the towns of Seabrook Island for your office to conduct a RSA of both Main and Bohicket Roads. We are pleased to have been joined in this request by the Town of Kiawah Island. Both communities would hope that the RSA would qualitatively estimate and report on road safety issues and identify opportunities for improvement in safety for all road users.

By way of background, we believe it is fair to say that the safety and condition of these two roads are of primary concern to the residents of both Kiawah and Seabrook Islands. Main and Bohicket Roads – both paved “farm to market roads” – have narrow lanes, are lined with deep ditches, roadside trees many of which are immediately adjacent to the roadway, and have few left turn and no passing lanes. We assume these issues are of equal concern to the residents of Johns Island, many of whom travel these roads to work in our communities or at Freshfields.

That being said, neither of the two roads can fairly be described as rural. Traffic counts collected by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (“SCDOT”) for the period 2005 – 2014, show a ten year average of daily traffic for various segments of the two roads in the thousands:

Road Road Segment Average Daily Traffic Count
Main Road Chisholm Rd. to Maybank Rd. 13,080
Bohicket Road Maybank Rd. to Edenvale Rd. 12,800
Bohicket Road Edenvale Rd. to River Rd. 11,590
Bohicket Road River Rd. to 2.95 mi SW of River Rd. 13,400

Traffic data generated by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety shows that, during the five (5) year period from 2011 to 2015, there were over 1,000 collisions on the 17 ½ mile stretch of Main and Bohicket or about 200 per year or almost 4 accidents per week. Of those 1,000 plus collisions, 456 or almost 50% involved death or personal injury.

Based on an analysis of SCDOT transportation data, TRIP (The Road Information Program), a non-profit research group, identified Main Road, Bohicket Road and the Betsy Kerrison Parkway 6th in the list of South Carolina secondary rural routes with the highest serious accident rates in the 2002 to 2006 study period. During the four (4) year study period, there were three hundred fourteen (314) injury crashes, twelve (12) fatalities and four hundred fifty-nine (459) people injured. Population and traffic on Johns Island have increased since that study was completed and both are expected to increase in the short and long term. Speed on the two roads in question, both higher and lower than signed, is a problem. Enforcement on these roads is almost impossible, as there is literally no room to pull anyone over without creating a more dangerous situation.

As those statistics demonstrate, Main and Bohicket Roads are dangerous under the best of circumstances. We would hope that, by means of a RSA, your office could be in a position to recommend incremental improvements to one or both roads. The obvious problem is the lack of a right of way adjacent to the roadbed. Roads with fifty (50) mile per hour speed limits and the noted volume of traffic should have at least a ten foot clearance on each side. We recognize that, because of the number of trees immediately adjacent to the two roads (particularly Bohicket), the required clearance will not be possible. The question therefore is what can be done to improve the safety of these two roads. While we would not presume to suggest a scope of the RSA or to anticipate in advance recommended solutions, we would offer a number of suggestions:

• Given the lack of road space, it is extremely dangerous to pass slower vehicles. While a no passing zone along the entire roadway would be impossible, some sections where passing is currently permitted need to be looked at carefully. In addition, adding intermittent passing lanes where the clearance permits would be helpful.
• Adding turn lanes at major intersections would be beneficial. Turn lanes and traffic lights should be considered both at Johns Island High School and the entrance to the Angel Oak tree.
• Numerous driveways line both roads. Many of the entering roads and driveways afford limited sight distance and, correspondingly, allow limited time for drivers traveling at fifty (50) miles per hour to react to entering traffic. Much of the scrub trees and brush adjacent to the entering roads and driveways need to be cleared.
• Both roads are lined with drainage ditches of varying degrees of depth. The ditches present obvious safety hazards. Can these be removed and proper drainage installed? Along with removing brush and trees, removal of the ditches can provide areas adjacent to the roadway where vehicles could pull over in an emergency, provide better sight distance and areas for school bus stops.
• Flood prone areas which interrupted traffic on both roads should be identified and corrected.
• The rumble strips and pavement marking are great aids in driving these roads at night. These should be maintained on a regular schedule.
• Reflectors on the trees close to the road need to be updated. Most are faded or mold covered. Consider replacing reflectors on trees closest to the road with up-lighting or some alternative form of illumination.
• Consideration should be given to paving the road shoulders and, where space allows, widening lanes.

We would hope that a safety study, such as we have described herein, would lead to incremental safety improvements on Main and Bohicket. It goes without saying, but we feel it must be said, that what is being requested is not the ultimate solution to the problem of Johns Island roads. Nothing in this request should be interpreted as our abandonment of our pursuit of longer term solutions to the road problems, such as implementation of the so-called Johns Island Greenway.

We thank you for your consideration of this matter and look forward to the opportunity to review the results of the RSA. In the interim, we would be pleased to meet with you to discuss this matter in greater detail should you so desire. On a related matter, we will, in the not too distant future, want to take you up on your offer to come to Seabrook Island for a “town hall” meeting or to address council.

Very truly yours,

Charles R. Lipuma, Mayor Ronald J. Ciancio, Mayor
Kiawah Island Seabrook Island

Submitted by Sally Kimball, Tidelines Writer