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Miss Evans urges Marion County to widen Highway 378 after daughter's death; council votes to ask DOT for action
Summary
At a Marion County Council meeting a grieving mother, Miss Evans, urged officials to make safety improvements on Highway 378 after her daughter's fatal crash; the council voted to send a letter to the South Carolina Department of Transportation and the Highway Commission seeking renewed attention and interim measures such as passing lanes and signage.
Miss Evans, identifying herself as a grieving mother, told the Marion County Council that her 20‑year‑old daughter was killed in a head‑on crash on Highway 378 near Britain’s Neck and urged officials to take steps to prevent further deaths.
"It should be a mission of love...to save lives," Miss Evans said, describing two recent fatalities on the corridor and urging the county to press state and regional partners for changes. She said an earlier feasibility study covered a long stretch and returned a very large cost estimate, and she asked the council to seek interim measures such as short passing or "truck" lanes, clearer no‑passing signage and increased enforcement while longer‑term reconstruction is pursued.
Council members and staff told Miss Evans that a 2024 feasibility review had produced an estimate in the hundreds of millions of dollars to widen the entire route because of bridges and utility relocations. One councilmember who said he regularly responds to incidents in the area described recent enforcement steps by state police—trailers and more troopers stationed at high‑accident sections—and underscored the multi‑jurisdictional nature of any widening project.
Miss Evans proposed targeted, lower‑cost interim actions: "It doesn't have to be a mile long. It was like 500, 1,000 ft. They called it truck lanes, but it's passing lanes," she said, and urged the council to coordinate with regional planning organizations and state senators she had contacted.
After discussion about costs, jurisdiction and past studies, the council voted to send a letter to the South Carolina Department of Transportation and the state Highway Commission asking them to revisit safety measures and the feasibility work on Highway 378. The motion passed on a voice vote.
The council did not set a timetable in the meeting for when the letter will be sent, nor did the council adopt a formal resolution with an implementation schedule; members discussed whether a letter or a resolution would be more appropriate and agreed to proceed with a letter to open communication with DOT and the Highway Commission.
