According to Lt. Robert Partain, a Richmond County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO) traffic officer, around 9:15 a.m., Monday morning, stopped a Nissan Maxima on I-20 with South Carolina license plates for speeding in the construction zone. The car’s driver, Jorge Alberto Valladares, of Duluth, Georgia was arrested after 4 kilograms of cocaine were found in the vehicle.

The Thanksgiving holiday travel period ended Sunday night with 15 traffic deaths reported to the Georgia State Patrol. While the number of traffic deaths was lower than expected, rainfall across the state since Friday contributed to a higher than normal number of traffic crashes and injuries on Georgia roads.

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety announces a preliminary number of 14 people being killed on South Carolina highways during the 106-hour Thanksgiving holiday. The time frame ran from Wednesday, November 26, at 6 p.m. until Sunday, November 30, at midnight.

Traffic deaths are down nearly 17 percent so far this year in South Carolina.

According to a release, one of the busiest travel holidays of the year is only hours away and the Georgia DOT (GADOT) is advising motorists to expect delays, plan ahead, and be patient. If Wednesday’s traffic is anything like the past few years, congestion will begin to build on Georgia’s roads by noon, three to four hours earlier than usual. Motorists should plan to travel in the morning, or after 6:00 p.m.

Thanksgiving, Black Friday weekend closure restrictions imposed through Sunday night

According to a release, Team United, the contractor building phase 2 of the Palmetto Parkway, reminds all motorists that there will be intermittent lane closures during the daylight hours on US Highway 25, in the vicinity of Interstate 20, over the next two weeks. All motorists should be aware of this potential for delays and seek alternative routes when available.

Commissioners consider letting 18 wheelers use Tobacco to save fuel, but would residents be willing to share street with semis.

Eastbound traffic on I-20 will be shifted, beginning at Belair Road, and continuing to west of Bobby Jones Expressway. The shift will remain until this weekend.

According to Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton, an 18-year-old USC-Aiken student was pronounced dead at the scene of a 2 car collision on Highway 19 North, in Aiken, on Tuesday afternoon. Alisa Rose McCarty, of Monetta, South Carolina, was traveling east on Croft Mill Road, when she failed to yield the right of way at the intersection of Croft Mill and Highway 19. She was driving a 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser, and was struck on the driver’s side door by a 2006 Freightliner Semi-Truck, driven by Max Carter of Dyersburg, Tennessee.

An 18-wheeler is blamed for a traffic tie up on Highway 21, in Bamberg, Monday afternoon. It happened around noon, near the intersection of Highway 61.

According to Aiken County Coronoer Tim Carlton, a 23-year-old Barnwell County man was pronounced dead at the scene of a single vehicle crash on Old Barnwell Road, in Aiken County, Tuesday morning at 8:34 a.m.

We have received word from the South Carolina Highway Patrol of a deadly accident on Highway 278 and Boggy Gut Road near Highway 19.

Work on the Palmetto Parkway project continues in South Carolina, and over the next several months, there will be lane shifts and closures on US Highway 25….and that could mean some traffic issues.