ELGIN, S.C. — The Elgin community continues to explode in population and with more people comes more traffic and plenty of frustrations from residents.
"We see a lot of traffic here in Elgin," resident William Pates said. "You wouldn't think it would be for such a small town, but there is a lot of traffic at this four-way. Sometimes only 1-2 cars can normally take this left."
Now, there is a significant change coming to the small town.
The only stop light in town is getting an upgrade: a new turn signal.
It all comes after a resident asked the South Carolina Department of Transportation to review the intersection.
Following the survey, SCDOT determined a left turn signal was needed.
"Based on the data collected, we are recommending a left turn signal for the eastbound Church Street left turn onto northbound U.S.1," SCDOT said in a statement. "SCDOT will begin designing/revising a plan for this intersection."
It's a change that restaurant Southern Mama's says will make it easier for customers to get to the restaurant.
"I think it will be great coming down this road because in the afternoons and through the day, traffic is really bad," said Southern Mama's Server Hailey Tabor.
It's a change the town said couldn't come soon enough.
"We've requested a couple of traffic studies, I think since 2015, but, of course, they both were denied because traffic volume didn't meet the criteria," said Elgin Mayor Melissa Emmons. "So, I'm always excited when a citizen steps forward and puts in their word or submits their report or maintenance report."
"We've outgrown our infrastructure," Elgin Police Chief Alan Anders said. "Elgin bottlenecks from 4 lanes to 2 lanes on both sides of US-1. I got numbers here from SCDOT from 2021. From the Richland County line on Highway One here to our traffic light here, it's 13,600 daily."
Residents are hopeful other turn signals will be considered in the future.
SCDOT says designs and construction will take 3 months.