The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) Commission has approved $2.5 million in safety funds for federal fiscal year 2009 to begin work on a prioritized list of 2200 intersection safety improvement projects all across South Carolina. The safety improvements will consist of low-cost engineering techniques such as additional signing and/or pavement markings. The SCDOT Commission took this action at its monthly meeting in Myrtle Beach on October 16, 2008.

               These improvements are aimed at achieving SCDOT’s goal to reduce the statewide crash rate by 3% annually. These 2200 intersections represent 1% of the 195,000 intersections in the state highway system. However, they also account for 67% of all intersection crashes in the state.

               Transportation Secretary H.B. Limehouse Jr. commended the Commission members for their support of safety projects. “We have committed to making our highways as safe as possible by using engineering strategies that can contribute to reducing crashes, injuries and deaths. We have limited dollars, but our engineers have devised low-cost plans that can stretch our funds and target the most dangerous areas on our roads,” said Limehouse. “I thank the Commission for supporting these efforts,” he added.

The complete list of intersection improvements approved for FY2009 can be found at this link: http://www.scdot-transfer.org/scdotphotos/masterlist.xls