BEAUFORT, S.C. — Beaufort County has won an $8 million federal grant to make SC 170 safer, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace announced Tuesday, Nov. 10. The corridor in northern Beaufort County is expected to see daily traffic double over the next 25 years.
Projections put the load at about 20,000 vehicles a day in 2024 and 40,000 by 2050. Crash data from 2020 through 2024 flagged several high-crash spots along the road, which Mace office said is part of the county high-injury network.
Federal transportation officials pay out the money through Safe Streets and Roads for All, a program aimed at preventing deaths and serious injuries on local roads. Mace said her office lobbied for the award with a letter asking federal officials to back the county bid.
Work would span 17.5 miles of SC 170, running from the Port Royal Sound Foundation to Boundary Street. Plans call for roughly a mile of raised medians, either new or lengthened, to manage where vehicles enter and leave the road, plus upgrades to four traffic signals and a fifth signal if one is warranted.
Drivers and walkers should also see crosswalks that are easier to spot, flashing beacons and four speed feedback signs. Signals will also get retimed yellow lights and backplates with reflective edges.
The award comes a week after Beaufort County voters, by a narrow 40,951 to 39,724 margin on Nov. 3, passed a different transportation sales tax of 1%. Beginning May 1, 2027, the sales tax rate on most purchases goes from 6% to 7%, lasting up to nine years or until the county has collected $780 million. Among the funded projects is a separate widening of SC 170 from U.S. 278 to SC 462, priced at $103.8 million.
Section: More Beaufort SC crime news
Filed under: Beaufort SC Traffic News
