Design

Design criteria set for the project require the new roadway to:

Be safe for those traveling along US 17 and its crossroads
Minimize the road’s impacts on the area’s valuable wetland
Maintain as many of the area’s beautiful trees as possible
Move traffic as smoothly as possible during construction and once the new lanes open
Accommodate pedestrians and cyclists traveling between Big Estate Road and the Piggly Wiggly
Minimize the road’s impact on wildlife in the area

A US 17 ACE Basin Parkway Segment 1 rendering shows Construction Phases 1 & 2 roadway cross-sections including widths of medians, lanes, shoulders, and the multi-purpose pathway in Phase 2.

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US 17 ACE Basin Parway - Segment 1 Rendering

Phase 1 is 3 miles between the Combahee River and Big Estate Road. The roadway will include two twelve-foot lanes in each direction, ten foot shoulders on each side, recoverable slopes to enable correction time for those who may run off of the road, and a 100- foot median separating north and southbound traffic.

Phase 2, between Big Estate Road and Gardens Corner, will offer a five lane section which includes two northbound lanes, two southbound lanes, and center turning lanes with intermittent planted medians. Combining the use of center turning lanes with the planted medians offers the opportunity to make necessary left turns while minimizing the possibility of head-on collisions. A 10 foot wide multi-purpose pathway is also included in this stretch of roadway.

Project Approach

Looking for information

Prior to this widening project, US 17 ACE Basin between Gardens Corner and Jacksonboro was recognized as one of the nation’s most deadly highways in a 2005 assessment. Sadly, 33 fatalities occurred on this section of the two-lane road between the years of 1997 and February 2005.

Some of these deaths have been marked by friends and families with white crosses within the Right of Way along the roadway. Widening plans for US 17 ACE Basin Segment 1 include the construction of safer, wider shoulders and embankments along either side of the roadway.

If you have information or questions about these memorials, please contact Chris Hernandez, SCDOT Project Manager at (888) 692-9986 or through this site’s contact page.
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Project Updates
March 2008
February 2008