A study currently underway is recommending the widening of a section of the S.C. Highway 118 bypass near USC Aiken from two lanes to four.
Other suggestions for improvements include additional turn lanes and the construction of a roundabout in and around the area from Vaucluse Road to Champion Way and Proud Pacer Drive.
Kimley-Horn, a consulting firm, is conducting the analysis.
“The overall purpose of the study is to try to get ahead of anticipated growth,” Aiken County Chief Development Officer Joel Duke told the Aiken Standard last year. “Based on all the existing development and the development that we expect, we know that the level of traffic will increase dramatically in the corridor.”
A public information meeting to provide an update on the study was held Monday at USC Aiken’s Convocation Center.
“We’ve taken all the data that we collected and projected into the future to 2045,” said Joe Robertson, a traffic engineer with Kimley-Horn. “We’ve identified how much traffic we expect to go through… and drafted a set of recommendations to improve traffic [flow] and safety.”
Among the suggestions are moving University Parkway so that it will align with Trolley Run Boulevard, limiting College Station Drive to right in/right out access where it intersects with Trolley Line Road and the installation of a left turn lane at the Catenary Boulevard/Vaucluse Road intersection.
“Another thing that we’ll be exploring, but haven’t looked at yet, is having direct access from USC Aiken to S.C. 118 kind of across from where we are right now (the Convocation Center),” Robertson said.
The public information meeting also was an opportunity for Kimley-Horn representatives to get feedback from attendees, who received handouts and could view displays and ask questions.
Officially known as the S.C. Highway 118 Intersection Analysis, the study began last year and is scheduled to be completed this summer.
Federal money is covering most of the study’s cost, but Aiken County and the City of Aiken also are contributing to its funding, according to Duke, who also is an assistant county administrator.
To view the study’s recommendations, and complete a survey, visit aikencountysc.gov/DspSvc?qSvcID=145 or the Aiken County Government page on Facebook.
