City Joins Move to Turn on Traffic Light: Signal Could Save Lives, Say City and B&C

By Emma Ritch, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Feb. 27–An inactivated traffic light on the Robert M. Grissom Parkway has Myrtle Beach officials lobbying the S.C. Department of Transportation to turn it on before serious accidents occur.

Burlap bags continue to cover the stoplight at 44th Avenue North and Grissom, three years after it got the OK from state and local governments. DOT officials have delayed the activation until traffic increases enough to warrant the stoplight.

City officials originally opposed the light but now say recent changes — such as a brick sound barrier wall and new housing and business developments — make the light necessary.

The wall by the Carolina Ridge Condominiums extends from 44th Avenue around the corner to Grissom. City officials contend that the wall “blocks the sight line of drivers who attempt to turn left onto Grissom from 44th Avenue,” according to a letter the city wrote to the DOT.

“The conditions have changed since the city’s original opposition,” city spokesman Mark Kruea said. “Development has occurred, and more traffic will be generated through that intersection.”

Myrtle Beach officials are in continued talks with the DOT to get the light activated.

City Council sent the letter requesting activation in November, and officials are still talking to S.C. Highway Department officials, Kruea said.

DOT officials could not be reached for comment.

The S.C. Highway Commission approved the light in 2003 at the request of Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc., which paid to install the light at a cost of $205,799, spokesman Pat Dowling said. The company has asked state officials to activate the light, he said.

“Growth in that particular area along Grissom has really escalated more than most people would have predicted, and the traffic pattern there is getting heavy,” Dowling said. “It’s time to activate it to protect life.”

and the traffic pattern there is getting heavy. It’s time to activate it to protect life.’

Pat Dowling | Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. spokesman

Contact EMMA RITCH at 444-1722 or eritch@thesunnews.com [mailto:eritch@thesunnews.com].

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