YORK COUNTY, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A new traffic system is coming to the intersection of Paraham and Campbell roads between York and Rock Hill in an effort to reduce car crashes in the area.
“Since I’ve lived here, there’s been several fatalities,” says Briant Campbell. “And I’ve come home, and I saw a vehicle over here flipped upside down one day.”
Campbell lives at the corner of Paraham Road and Campbell Road. He and other neighbors have seen several wrecks at this intersection.
“They’ve tried different things. The flashing lights are the latest thing they’ve tried,” he said. “Now it’s a four-way stop. “But in the past, the traffic on Campbell Road was through traffic, and the Paraham traffic stopped, and that’s what would happen. People would pull out in front of people coming through Campbell.”
State transportation officials announced the four-way stop will be replaced with a roundabout.
“I guess I’m pro-roundabout,” Campbell explained. “I mean, I come through one coming home from work at the airport, and it seems to be fine. I think you get into the roundabout; you’re at a speed where if something does happen, it’s not going to be something tragic.”
Kelly Moore with the S.C. Department of Transportation says the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program used a data-driven approach to identify locations with high accident rates and implement safety enhancements or improvements.
One thing they found was a high number of “angle crashes.”
Over a six-year period, 38 out of 41 crashes were right-angle crashes — or T-bones — which are statistically more severe. SCDOT says high speeds combined with a failure to yield the right of way and disregard for traffic control may have contributed to the crashes.
Campbell says he’s on board for anything that will keep people safe.
“I’m not so sure, in my opinion, that a traffic light would stop it because we have flashing traffic lights,” she said. “Now we have a sign telling you that the thru traffic on Campbell does not stop. And we still had many, many accidents. So, I’m no traffic expert. I’m no highway expert. But if I were, if it were me personally in charge, I’d probably travel roundabout.”
The most recent study of intersections converted to a single-lane roundabout by the SCDOT Traffic Safety Office has shown a reduction in injury crashes by 79 percent and total crashes by 64 percent.
Moore says the four-way stop at the intersection of Paraham and Campbell is a temporary improvement while the roundabout project is completed. SCDOT expects the updates to be completed by the end of 2024.
Road closures are set to start Monday, Sept. 18, on a portion of Paraham between Campbell and Vanderbilt Drive and are expected to last until Dec. 17.
