LEXINGTON, S.C. — The Town of Lexington will hold a virtual public information meeting to discuss a plan they've created to fix traffic flow issues on the intersection of Corley Mill Road and Sunset Blvd.
Over the last few years, Lexington has experienced the growing issue of traffic within the area.
Steps have been taken by the Town of Lexington including changing traffic patterns and installing Adaptive Computerized Signalization Systems at various intersections.
Laurin Barnes says they've been looking at another busy intersection within the Town of Lexington.
"We're calling it the Sunset Split. It's a project to improve traffic in the Corley Mill-Hwy. 378 area which services about 45,000 vehicles every day," said Barnes.
The Town of Lexington said they've conducted numerous traffic studies and have created a list to prioritize which roads they plan to work on first. The traffic study includes roads all the way from Leaphart Road in West Columbia to the Twelve Mile Creek Bridge.
The town decided the Corley Mill Road and Sunset Boulevard intersection is the next project they wanted to focus on.
"It services so many vehicles each day and safety is a main concern," explained Barnes.
One of the issues the town looked at with the particular intersection is being able to turn left from Corley Mil Road to get on Sunset Boulevard to head towards West Columbia.
Barnes says they've come up with a new plan that would change the way people would get around the area.
"378 like it is now, that will turn into a one-way westbound traffic and then will construct a different lane that will go eastbound," said Barnes. "So it will be three lanes going each way starting at this interchange and going down the Twelve Mile Creek Bridge."
Drivers on Corley Mill Road who want to go towards West Columbia will need to turn right onto what is now Harman Park Drive. This is the road between TD Bank and the TD Administrative Offices. That will become the Sunset Boulevard westbound road. Drivers would continue down the new one-way and will lead them to another connector road that would be built where they could turn left and get back on Sunset Boulevard near the Honda dealership to head eastbound.
If drivers didn't turn left to go towards Sunset Boulevard to travel towards West Columbia, the extension of what is now Harman Drive would lead drivers towards Downtown Lexington and join back with Sunset Boulevard by the Murphy Express.
As for Hwy. 378, it has traffic going in both directions. The point where they would split to turn into one-ways would be where the John Deere Sparrow and Kennedy Tractor Company is located.
The town has already spoken with businesses who may be impacted by this traffic project.
"The ultimate goal is to make it a safer intersection, to make it safer for people who are going in and out of these businesses and also to get traffic flowing through at a better rate than it is now," said Barnes.
Through August 18th, people will be able to leave comments on the project so they can give their input. Folks can check out the plans and see how the traffic flow would work and leave a comment on it by clicking here.
