Berkeley County Council approved a change order to add safety improvements to the Cane Bay Boulevard roundabout at Nexton Parkway and to resurface the segment of Cane Bay Boulevard from SC-176 to the roundabout after an extended discussion at the Operations Committee meeting.

The action drew repeated concern from council members that the roundabout is producing frequent crashes and that residents want a quicker, near-term fix. County staff said the changes will improve safety now and that a larger redesign remains a future option.

The Operations Committee discussion focused on trade-offs between a faster, less-expensive correction the county can construct within months and a longer-term redesign that staff said would better address expected future traffic volumes. Councilman Pinkney emphasized urgency: "We're talking about the safety of the road and the lives of our citizens," he said during debate. Members raised questions about the design, past accident history and whether a short-term fix would simply postpone a later, more expensive project.

County staff and the project's traffic engineer described the approved scope as a hybrid solution that will convert some approaches to single-lane operation, preserve two lanes where school-related traffic requires them, and reconfigure lane markings and medians to reduce conflicts. The engineer said the improvements "will correct it until the year 2040," noting that a full redesign to meet projected traffic beyond that horizon would require substantially more work and time.

Committee members also discussed logistics and costs raised in the staff presentation. Staff noted a mobilization line item of roughly $22,000 and referenced project-level figures discussed during the meeting; the transcript records several approximate totals discussed by council and staff but does not record a single, final approved change-order dollar amount in the public discussion. Council members urged staff to pursue the fastest route that meaningfully reduces crash risk while preserving the option for a comprehensive redesign later.

After extended debate and questions about timing, resurfacing and whether to split paving from the safety work, the committee voted to approve the change order and associated resurfacing work. Committee members said they expect construction work to be completed more quickly under the approved, incremental plan; staff estimated construction of the selected scope could be accomplished in less than six months once the contractor is mobilized, while a full redesign and replacement could take up to 12–18 months to design and procure and roughly a year and a half for full implementation.

The chair closed the discussion by noting the county would schedule further engineering work to identify a longer-term solution and to align any large widening projects (referendum-dependent) with future reconstruction plans.

Ending: County staff said they will follow up with more detailed cost breakdowns and schedule options. Council members asked that staff return with a clearer estimate for the full redesign and with a separate cost for the immediate safety-only scope so the board can compare timing, cost and safety benefits before larger capital decisions are made.