After residents’ pleas, Somerville council votes to take over West Richardson and lower speed limit

Somerville residents described repeated near‑misses, noise and property damage on West Richardson Avenue and urged the Town Council to take the state‑owned road from the South Carolina Department of Transportation so the town can install traffic calming, signage and enforcement.

"West Richardson Avenue is a residential area in Summerville, but the speed limit is 35 miles an hour," said Rick Martier as he urged the council to assume control of the corridor. Mary Comer recounted frequent near misses and said she has "been cussed at, horn‑blasted at" while turning into her driveway; multiple speakers reported both increased pedestrian traffic and repeated accidents and asked the council to reduce the speed limit to 25 mph, install on‑demand lighted crosswalks and place no‑through‑truck signs.

Council members discussed costs, enforcement capacity and whether a traffic safety study should precede action. Several council members said DOT had declined prior requests for speed reductions and other controls; one councilor noted a meter‑speed sign and short enforcement stints had temporarily reduced speeds. After debate, the council voted in favor of a motion to take over West Richardson Avenue and reduce the speed limit to 25 mph to enable local safety measures.

Council members cautioned that road maintenance and repaving are costly and that assuming ownership carries ongoing obligations. They asked staff to study specific improvements and coordinate funding; the motion approved ownership and a speed‑limit change but did not finalize a full scope or budget for repaving in the meeting record.