MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Improvements are coming to Bay Road in Horry County after three teenage girls were killed on the road before Christmas.
“Obviously, we realized there were problems on Bay Road a while back,” said Horry County Councilman, Gary Loftus. “We’ve known that.”
Loftus said around $2 million was put in the budget for safety and storm water improvements before the crash.
“We understand there are concerns. In fact, we shared them about six months ago to put it in the budget,” he added.
The county is currently accepting bids for the project and the deadline to submit them is January 13.
An online petition was started to put in guardrails along the road, and already has over 1,000 signatures.
“The culverts that are on each side are very deep,” said Peter Brotherton, who lives across the street and heard the crash happen. “So even at a low rate of speed, you lose control, you’re off in a ditch. Certainly guardrails would make a difference.”
Brotherton also said the road is completely dark at night, windy and full of speeders.
“That is a 35 mile per hour road,” he added. “And that’s not the average speed on that road. I would say people probably average 50 miles an hour going down that road and at night there’s no lights whatsoever.”
Loftus said a consulting firm and engineers will be hired to survey the road and a construction company will make any changes needed.
“It’s tragic,” said Loftus. “Could we have done anything to prevent it? Maybe, maybe not. We won’t know until we get the report. But it doesn’t make any difference. There’s still a big hole in people’s lives and there doesn’t need to be.”
