Rethink Folly Road safety audit narrows stoplight idea; medians draw neighborhood concern

Members of the Rethink Folly Road steering committee and residents said engineers have ruled out adding a traffic signal at Santee, and proposed medians on Folly Road remain a focal point of debate.

The steering committee said engineers "nixed the idea so far of a stoplight" at Santee, and that medians included in the safety audit design could cause large delivery trucks to enter nearby neighborhoods, pushing trucks through Centerville and Bayfront to reach businesses on the south side of Folly Road. "Making one road safe at the expense of many others doesn't seem logical," a resident said during public comment.

The committee said Representative Spencer Wetmore has asked for additional changes to the revised designs and that SCDOT safety-study engineers are reviewing where midblock crossings and crosswalks should be placed. The crosswalk request near Prescott Street was described as included in the safety audit, and the crosswalk at Wilton Street was identified as part of phase 1 of the Rethink Hollywood work.

Staff said DOT staff were not present at the meeting and that the county or committee would provide a map of the proposed medians and truck routing at the next meeting so residents could see which segments would be affected. Committee members and residents repeatedly questioned the traffic data used by engineers, saying engineers "didn't do a traffic count out of the centers," a comment that committee members characterized as a data gap the group wants clarified.

The committee said it will post an updated map on its website and distribute it at the next meeting. No formal vote on the design occurred at the meeting; committee members said they expect construction of phase 1 to accelerate interest and momentum among jurisdictions. The committee discussed organizing a ceremonial groundbreaking once a date for phase 1 is set.

Action taken during the meeting was limited to administrative business: the steering committee unanimously approved minutes from the July 16 meeting.

The steering committee plans to continue coordination with SCDOT and Representative Wetmore and to present the updated map and any engineer responses at the next Rethink Folly Road meeting.