Spartanburg County adding roundabout to busy intersection

SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – Most people have driven through a roundabout before, and now Spartanburg County is looking to add more to the roads.

Transportation officials said it’s their way of keeping drivers safe, in any situation.

“One thing about a roundabout is it always works, power goes off, roundabout still works,” said Billy Martin, Spartanburg County transportation committee engineering supervisor. “If there’s a traffic signal there, it stops working and you get a mess. So it’s reliable.”

Crew began construction last week on the Berry Shoals and Apple Valley Roads’ intersection. 7NEWS was told there is a one month detour planned on Apple Valley Road, weather permitting.

The county said just in the two years that they’ve been designing this project, 43 crashes have taken place. Roundabouts, they said, are proven to slow traffic.

“It deliberately slows down the vehicles,” said Martin. “We’re not going to eliminate crashes, we just hope to eliminate severe injury and fatality crashes.”

The high volume of crashes that happen at this intersection is why drivers in the area said they are looking forward to seeing a roundabout.

“Totally supportive of putting a roundabout in that intersection, it gets a little hairy when we go through there so I love the idea,” said Patrick Griffey, a nearby resident.

The county transportation committee said this particular intersection has a higher number of concerning statistics compared to most.

The county said the roundabout will be complete in two months.

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