Lane Changes May Be Ahead For Silver Bluff Road

Aiken, SC—It might be called Silver Bluff Road, but it seems there are gray areas here when it comes to ways to fix traffic congestion.

Gaines Entrekin, driver: “It’s getting very difficult and dangerous to get out here.“

Blake Enlow, driver: “The curves and the buildings are so close, so you can’t see oncoming traffic.”

With thousands of cars a day traveling down this road, the traffic often backs up.

Gary Young, driver: “It’s busy in the morning and in the evening probably because SRS getting off from work.“

DOT officials noticed this last year. So originally, their proposal was to widen the road…but that wasn’t well-received by neighbors, who didn’t want their property going by the wayside.

Young: “If they’d just make it more lanes, they’re just speeding up the bottleneck.“

Now DOT has new plans they want to share. Instead of widening the road, officials are looking at putting in new turn lanes at busier intersections, and adding two traffic lights.

One light would go at the intersection of Richardson’s Lake Road…

Entrekin :“We certainly need a traffic light here. You really have to kind of pull out here to see. And now it’s very difficult, with people turning right and left, it’s really hard to get out.“

Another proposed light would go up at the entrance of Woodside Plantation.

Young: “I don’t think Woodside’s got a problem. They’ve got a stop sign. Most people I see use it as a yield sign, but I don’t ever see traffic backed up there.“

“I’m sure there are some who would love to have it…some who don’t care.“

But none of these suggestions is final—once again, DOT officials are asking the drivers for their input…

Young: “I’ll think about it between now and the meeting-I’m planning on attending.“

It’s a slow-moving process, but one that they hope will eventually help fix slow-moving traffic on Silver Bluff Road.

Transportation officials say the public’s opinion will be taken into account before they finalize their plans.