Safety improvements coming to Morrison Drive amid growing pedestrian collisions

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) —State transportation officials and the City of Charleston have announced plans for several safety enhancements to be added to Morrison Drive just a few months after two 20-year-old women were killed along the roadway.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) conducted a traffic safety audit on the road in May, weeks after the deadly double hit-and-run that claimed the lives of Lizzy Zito and Arianna Gamber.

Planned improvements include a pedestrian crossing installation between Morrison Yard and Sanders-Clyde Elementary School and a landscaped and raised median between Johnson Street and Cooper Street. Officials say this median will make traffic entering Morrison Drive from Grace Bridge Street, Harris Street, or Jackson Street right turn only.

According to City of Charleston officials, DOT consulted with them shortly after the deadly hit-and-run.

“I want to really commend them on their effort to not only move quickly but to engage the residents in the area around there and to think how this would be most effective and how it would be used,” said Logan McVey, the Chief Policy Officer for Charleston Mayor William Cogswell. “Part of their effort includes reaching out to the residents at the apartment building, to the residents across the street at Cooper River Courts, to even engaging with the school down the street.”

The future updates are welcome news for Jason Layne, who said he frequents the area on his bike.

“I think it’s a great option. I mean, especially with the accident that we had recently. Charleston is definitely a small city. A lot of people walk, a lot of people ride bikes. We need more safer crosswalks and more bike lanes,” the bicyclist told News 2.

Crews will also clean debris from existing bicycle lanes and refresh pavement markings and signs, with work set to begin later in 2024. SCDOT says a developer’s plan for a traffic signal at Johnson Street was also approved, so transportation officials and the City will work closely on that project.

“The safety of our roadways is our number one priority, and today’s announcement is another example of a collaborative effort to make local communities safer for everyone on the roads. The Charleston peninsula has long been known as a place where biking and walking are a primary mode of travel – it is a part of what makes the City special. I appreciate the work of our SCDOT traffic engineers to evaluate this corridor and to implement safety enhancements that make our road network better for everyone,” said Justin P. Powell, Secretary of Transportation.

Back in May, officials posted new speed limit tracking signs for drivers heading north along the roadway.

Pedestrian deaths are a problem not only in Charleston County but across South Carolina, with a recent study ranking the state as the third deadliest for pedestrians .

Smart Growth America, a national nonprofit, analyzed crash data from the federal government in their “Dangerous by Design 2024” report. South Carolina saw 878 pedestrian deaths from 2018 to 2022. This number is up from the number of deaths between 2013 and 2017, which was 629.

In the first part of the study, the Charleston-North Charleston metro was ranked the ninth worst in pedestrian deaths, averaging 3.66 deaths per 100,000 people. Between 2018 and 2022, 147 pedestrians were killed in the area.

Without analyzing data and statistics, the problem can still be seen. Just Sunday, 64-year-old David Murray was killed after being struck by a vehicle while riding his bike near Rifle Range Road and Ben Sawyer Boulevard in Mount Pleasant.

In Saint Stephen, Juan Diego Ordonez Velazquez, 35, died, and two children were injured after being struck by a pickup truck Friday night while walking along Forty-One Road.

North Charleston Police responded to an auto-pedestrian collision Saturday night, where they found Russell Johnson, 63, dead on the scene at the intersection of Rivers Avenue and Fuller Street.

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