Addressing dangerous Berkeley County road a “top priority,” councilman says

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Leaders are working to address a dangerous intersection in Berkeley County where three people have died in the last two years.

It comes after residents who travel along Black Tom Road and Black Tom Road Extension reached out to News 2 saying they want the county to do something to prevent deadly crashes in the future.

Berkeley County Councilman Tommy Newell said the intersection is a main priority and that the intersection of Black Tom Road/Black Tom Extension and Black Tom Extension/Cooper Store Road will be reworked.

“The county is addressing it,” he said. “We are picking an IBC list of engineering firms to help us decide which course is best to take. Either make it a perpendicular, stop sign, or possibly roundabouts.”

Berkeley County leaders met with officials from the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) on Wednesday to discuss the issue.

“We met with DOT to go over a litany of projects – we have many, but also having the one cent sales tax committee there, and to speak to them with regards to what’s the next step we need to take,” he said.

These two intersections were part of the one cent sales tax extension that Berkeley County voters passed in 2022. Those tax dollars began coming in this month.

Newell said he learned just how dangerous the intersection of Black Tom Extension and Cooper Store Road is firsthand after being involved in a collision back in 2018.

“I’m coming down Cooper Store Road to go to Pinopolis and someone runs the stop sign,” he recalled. “I drive over the vehicle, land on the driver’s side. It could’ve been fatal for both of us.”

That’s part of why Councilman Newell said he favors a roundabout like what the county built in Sangaree, to solve the problem of another dangerous intersection.

He is not certain how soon work will be done at these intersections; however, Newell said it remains a top priority.