SURFSIDE BEACH (WBTW) – One lane of southbound U.S. Highway 17 Bypass remained closed because of work on a sinkhole early Wednesday morning, one day after it caused long delays for evening commuters in Horry County.
Most of the day Tuesday, drivers on the south side of the Strand had traffic to look forward to from the intersection of Highway 544 and Highway 17 to Glenns Bay Road.
According to an update on the SCDOT website at 6:01 a.m. Wednesday, the lane was still closed.
It is only about three miles, but enough to cause issues for many drivers.
Amanda shanks who was already late to work, told News 13 she is not surprised by the delay.
“I guess I’m just used to it because I’ve been driving here back and forth,” she said.
However, other drivers like Anne Bessant are not as casual about the back up.
“How much longer is this going to be here,” she said.
Construction will continue at Glenns Bay Road until 2017; however this back up was not simply because of construction.
“This was an unforeseen issue that occurred and we were mandated to make that closure for the repair work for the safety of all motorists,” said Horry County Spokesperson Lisa Bourcier.
Utility crews caused a sink hole in the right lane of Highway 17 just past Glenns Bay Road.
A small hole, but it forced crews to close the lane for fear the road could collapse under the weight of passing vehicles.
“The estimate that was give by the Department of transportation was 24 hours. We may find out tomorrow that it could be longer than that but we want know until they get in to start the repair work”
That 24 hour time period will not start until crews diagnose the problem.
They say it could take all day Wednesday to fix the issue.
Highway 707 also had scheduled lane closures Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.; meaning the only southbound road without construction was Business 17.
