DOT meets with group to share revised plan for Litchfield project – Coastal Observer

DOT meets with group to share revised plan for Litchfield project – Coastal Observer

A proposal to reconfigure intersections along Highway 17 in Litchfield will no longer restrict left turns from Litchfield Drive, according to an update provided this week to a group of area residents and officials. The project was a top priority in a 2020 update to a 2003 study of the Highway 17 corridor on Waccamaw Neck. An earlier version called for eliminating left turns at Litchfield Drive and Country Club Drive and creating U-turns at Crooked Oak Drive and the YMCA. The preliminary plan drew over 400 comments after the Department of Transportation and its consultants from Mead & Hunt held a public information session in May. The Litchfield Beaches Property Owners Association opposed the loss of left-turn access at Litchfield Drive. “We are thrilled that a full-service, four-way light is being restored and the original right-turn only was scratched,” said Kevin Corrigan, the association president. He was among those who attended this week’s meeting. “We appreciate that they heard us. The original plan was not well received,” Corrigan said. Many at the May meeting said the plan was focused on keeping through traffic moving on Highway 17 at the expense of local drivers. Residents at Litchfield Country Club were concerned that changing the intersection at Litchfield Drive would keep them from taking their golf carts to the beach. DOT said the goal was to improve safety by creating “reduced conflict intersections.” Due to the volume of comments, the agency pushed the schedule for the $10 million project back a year. It is now proposing to hold another community meeting early in 2027 with right of way acquisition to follow in the fall and construction to start a year later. “SCDOT heard the comments,” said Chris Clark, director of the Grand Strand Area Transportation Study, which approved funding for the project. “They modified the design substantially.” The plan still calls for closing median cuts between Litchfield Drive and Crooked Oak. A traffic signal at Crooked Oak will allow for U-turns and left turns into and out of Litchfield Country Club, participants at this week’s meeting said. Another signal at the entrance of Salt Marsh Cove will do the same. That will replace the signal proposed at the YMCA. Another feature of the revised plan is the extension of the Bike the Neck path by nearly three-quarters of a mile from Providence Drive to the YMCA. “Which is huge,” said Linda Ketron, a founder and long-time leader of Bike the Neck. “There’s such a huge population coming in and out of South Litchfield. That really will help tremendously.” She also attended this week’s meeting. “It was a really good meeting,” Ketron said.  Corrigan agreed. “It appears to be a really good outcome,” he said. “There still need to be some details worked out, but we are encouraged,” he said.