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Council raises safety alarms over left-turn median access at Exit 5 for new housing
Summary
Council members and a traffic engineer debated planned access onto Highway 17 near Exit 5, with the council citing rising crash reports and the traffic engineer saying current turn lanes and a 200-foot deceleration storage meet the project's traffic study for buildout.
Council members at a Hardeeville workshop pressed the applicant and traffic engineer about safety at a proposed access on Highway 17 near Exit 5, saying left turns into a median cut on a 60 mph segment are increasingly dangerous as surrounding development grows.
The council member cited several recent accident reports during a vacation period and said, "coming a making lefthand turns into median cuts on a 60 mph road has me quite concerned." Traffic engineer Caitlyn Love responded that the traffic study supporting the development called for current access features and that left-turn lanes and a 200-foot storage deceleration lane are or will be in place for the proposed access.
Staff noted future improvements to the adjacent intersections are likely as nearby development (referred to as Salt) builds out, but cautioned that those improvements are contingent on funding and timing and may not materialize before traffic intensifies.
Developers identified Lenar and NBR as the anticipated builders and said site plans include internal del (deceleration) lanes and right-hand-turn lanes at the existing access. Council members asked that staff re-examine the access alignment and report whether any additional mitigation—such as more robust left-turn storage, signalization triggers, or relocation of access—should be required before first reading.
No formal traffic mitigation conditions or votes were adopted at the workshop; staff and the traffic engineer said they will provide clarifications for the next meeting.
