Round and Round

Traffic circle to make traveling to resort islands easier  A roundabout that opened last month is proving to be a smooth and safe way around growing traffic problems at the entrances to Kiawah and Seabrook islands. The 200-foot-diameter, $4.2 million circle opened April 22 and has four entry and exit points.  Motorists can enter or leave the circle at connectors to Betsy Kerrison Parkway, Seabrook and Kiawah Island and Freshfields, a 175,000-square-foot commercial center in a village setting just outside Kiawah.  Traffic to and from the resort islands has been increasing steadily for years, and with the opening of Freshfields, a much higher volume is expected, Kiawah and Seabrook officials said.  Roundabouts, which highway officials call a traffic circle that is no bigger than 200 feet in diameter, are common in Europe but relatively new in the Lowcountry.  “Ï love it,” Johns Island resident Vicky Ogden said of the roundabout.  She said it makes travel to and from her home and her job at Carolina Clay Gallery in Freshfields much easier. “When I first saw a sign that said, ‘Roundabout now open,’ I thought I would have trouble.  But it has a nice flow of traffic and I had no problems,” she said.  Mount Pleasant has built several roundabouts and is planning more. “It’s something new in South Carolina, but it already has and will prove to be a very effective way to handle traffic at a four-way intersection,” said McIver.  Traffic using the new roundabout will be hindered this month by replacement of culverts on Betsy Kerrison at Haulover Creek, about 100 feet from the circle.  That project will cut available traffic lanes at that point from four to tow, one inbound and one outbound.  The Town of Kiawah also will be completing a $100,000 landscaping project on the nearly 4 acres occupied by the circle.  Before the circle opened, turning left from Betsy Kerrison to Kiawah, from Kiawah to Seabrook or to Bohicket Road south of the islands was difficult.  Kiawah residents said they often found it frustrating to reach stores, banks and medical offices located just south of the island.  "If you had an early morning appointment, you could sit there 10 minutes waiting to make a left turn.  You sat and sat and sat,” McIver said.  That’s not the case now," said the mayor pro tem.  The roundabout idea first was talked about years ago, McIver said, adding that without a roundabout, the islands were going to have to consider a traffic light at Betsy Kerrison.  “The sentiment on Kiawah was not to go that route,” he said.  Randy Pierce, administrator of the town of Seabrook, said the circle not only keeps vehicles moving at a busy junction, "It has a traffic-calming effect.”  He said the speed limit at Betsy Kerrison is 50 mph.  Before the circle opened, motorists often maintained that speed as they entered Kiawah Parkway, which as a 45-mph limit, and the entrance to Seabrook, which is 35 mph.  The roundabout’s diameter forces vehicles to slow to the 25-mph range.  Seabrook and Kiawah officials work together well, and both islands got behind the roundabout idea, Pierce said.  “We had good, open discussions.  The islands get along pretty well,” he said.  The roundabout project was awarded $2 million from the federally funded Highway Improvement Match Program.  Kiawah developers donated land for the project to the town, which donated it to the state for the project.  The land donation, worth $1.9 million, and the town’s $150,000 contribution were accepted as an approximate 50 percent match for the federal funds.  ROUNDABOUT DRIVING TIPS (from www.kiawah.org) ► As you approach the roundabout, look for the street and direction signs you need.  This will help you know which exit to take.  These signs are posted along the roadside before you reach the roundabout. ► When you arrive at the roundabout, yield the right of way to any pedestrians and bicyclists that might be entering.  You also must yield to any drivers already in the roundabout.  Your entry point will be controlled by a yield sign.  When the traffic level allows enough space and time, you may enter the roundabout. ► The roundabout will have only one interior lane.  Use your vehicle’s right turn signal to let the other motorists know when and where you will be exiting the roundabout.  Start signaling at the exit BEFORE the one you want to take.

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