IRMO, S.C. — Tonight in Irmo, the town is one step closer to making Broad River Road safer. This comes after council members met Tuesday night and approved the sale of about 0.3 acres on Broad River Road to Richland County.
"Been a long time, so people are eager for it to happen," Bill Danielson, Irmo mayor said.
For years, there's been chatter about widening the thoroughfare from two to five lanes. Tonight, Irmo leaders said that's set to become reality.
"That property was donated to us about, I'd want to say 15 months ago, maybe a year and a half ago, and we happily accepted it not knowing what we would do with it and we knew Broad River was going to be widened. And now that's come to fruition that they need that property to widen it," Danielson said.
Danielson said it was an easy unanimous approval at first and second reading for council.
"We just made $80,000 so we'll take that," Danielson said. He said the town now only has to spend about $4 or $5,000 to close the deal.
Danielson explains the town was approached by the county about three to four months ago about the purchase.
And outlined in the last update from the county, Danielson said other traffic features will be added to prevent accidents.
"It's then gonna be turned into a pretty wide thoroughfare, and they are putting lights in, they're going to put a light in at royal tower, they're going to put a light in further up where Farming Creek comes out. So they're adding a couple of red lights in intersections along the way," Danielson said.
Local business owners I spoke with along Broad River said they're excited for more visibility and public safety.
Ben Umberger, owner of Carolina Conservation, directly across from the property being sold, sent News 19 this statement saying in part, "We have been hopeful about this project becoming a reality for several years. Navigating in and out of this intersection is a nightmare more times than not. we witness accidents and near misses with pedestrians on a regular basis. Additional lanes and traffic lights would greatly increase the safety of those traveling in the area as well as the accessibility for our neighbors and fellow businesses along Broad River Road."
The Irmo mayor tells us this project should start soon now that the property sale has been approved. He said the first step will be relocating telephone poles.