SCDOT to unveil plans for roundabout at busy Georgetown County intersection

SCDOT to unveil plans for roundabout at busy Georgetown County intersection

A heavily traveled Georgetown County intersection could soon get a major redesign, and residents have a chance to weigh in.

Oak tree’s fate still a concern as DOT plans roundabout – Coastal Observer

A decade after it was first proposed for funding, a roundabout is back in the plans for the misaligned intersection of Waverly Road and Petigru Drive. And the oak tree that was the center of community opposition to the project is still standing watch on the corner. The state Department of Transportation will outline plans for the project at a drop-in from 4 to 6 p.m. today at Waccamaw Intermediate School. Travis Cooper, the DOT project manager, did not respond to requests for comment. “Those trees are in the right of way,” said Chris Clark, the transportation director at Waccamaw Council of Governments who was briefed on the project. “Whether it’s a roundabout or an improved intersection, it’s my understanding there will be an impact.” When DOT presented plans for a roundabout to the community in 2017, the project manager at the time said neither option would save the oak tree. It stands 6 feet off the pavement and that raises safety concerns, DOT has said. Shifting the roundabout would also increase the cost by by requiring additional right of way. The project was initially budgeted at $1.8 million. (The cost of extra right of way was estimated at $4 million.) That cost is now $5.8 million, including $4.75 million for the actual construction, which would begin in 2028. “I’ve been seeing these roundabouts wherever I go,” said the Rev. Johnny Ford, who lives just down Petigru from the intersection. He has also seen traffic increase in the community where he grew up. The roundabout may make the intersection safer, but it won’t make traffic move any faster, he said. “It’s congested, and you’re still going to have people coming in and out. It’s just a matter of patience,” Ford said. His concern remains, as it did in 2017, the oak tree. “It’s part of the history. I would hate to see it affected,” Ford said. Even in the digital age “people are still putting posters up there.” That practice is one of the things that led an arborist to label the tree’s condition at “unkept good health.” More critical to its condition is the location of the pavement within the “critical root zone” that extends about 25 feet from the trunk. Traffic to a vegetable stand on the corner also drives over the roots, the study by Total Tree Care noted. The study was commissioned by Sel Hemingway, who was the county administrator at the time and now serves on the DOT Commission. He proposed in 2017 that DOT move the roundabout to save the tree. Even Gov. Henry McMaster weighed in on the issue, telling state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch he was going to investigate possible solutions.  Goldfinch said this week that he still supports efforts to save the oak. “There are always ways to work around it,” he said. “They’re what give our community character.” Only eight out of more than 100 comments from the public supported the roundabout, and DOT decided to delay the project two years. It wasn’t until 2024 that funds for the project were approved by the Grand Strand Area Transportation Study Policy Committee, which allocates federal funds to state highway projects in the region. County Council Member Stella Mercado said she thinks the project now has support in the community. A roundabout will reduce accidents and serve to slow traffic on Waverly Road, she said.  “I did a lot of work with the community and talking about that,” Mercado said. “You really have to communicate on a project like this.” The Pawleys Island Civic Club, which once objected to the roundabout because of the tree, now supports the project, she added. The roundabout will tie in with the extension of the Bike the Neck path along Waverly Road to Petigru Drive that the civic club has pushed for. But the group also told County Council in 2024 that it hopes the tree can remain as “an important landmark in our community.” That sentiment is shared by others. “So much of Pawleys Island is being dismantled because of what the county has done with development,” said Ford’s wife, Lynne, who also grew up with the oak. “To be able to preserve it would really be a plus to us.”