After only a week of being open, International Drive is causing concern for some Carolina Forest residents. Neighbors in the area are already voicing concern about traffic congestion in the new section of International Drive.
A resident of The Farm, Brenda Berry, says with three different schools in a one-mile radius, she has concerns about dropping off her grandchildren when it’s time for school in a few weeks.
“I think it’s going to be the new 501. I just don’t know how that intersection is going to work,” questions Berry. “They have a crossing guard, but I’m just not sure it’s going to be enough.”
She says people use their neighborhood as a cut through, and it’s causing congestion, especially during the morning and evening rush hours.
“It’s still a great neighborhood, but the traffic is becoming a problem. It takes me about a half an hour to get to work when it used to take me about 15 minutes,” said Berry.
Horry County Police Captain John Harrelson says while they have full jurisdiction of International Drive some of the roads in Carolina Forest limit their ability to enforce.
“Some of these subdivisions have private roads. They don’t belong to the county. They don’t belong to the state. So with speeding or running a stop sign, we have to be very careful that the road we are enforcing on belongs to the county or the state,” Harrelson said.
He says officers will continue to work with the highway patrol to identify traffic patterns or congestion.
