Crews began work this week on concrete medians at five U.S. 17 intersections in North Myrtle Beach: 46th Avenue South, Windy Hill Road, 37th, 33rd, and 27th Avenue South. For residents and business owners who would rather keep their left turns, the obvious question is whether anything can still be done. The honest answer is that it’s much harder now than it was two years ago, but it isn’t impossible. And the next stretch of highway is still in play.

What’s being built, and why

SCDOT says the project is a response to a long crash history. In a statement, the agency said the corridor from Conway Street to 21st Avenue South had 609 crashes over six years, seven of them fatal [WMBF, 2026]. The tradeoff is access. Because the medians control left turns, drivers will have to make U-turns to reach some destinations [WPDE, 2026]. WMBF NewsWPDE

This is not a city project. SCDOT’s Office of Traffic Safety initiated the work, and it is paid for through the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program [Horry Independent, 2024]. SCDOT expects to finish by June 30, 2027 [WMBF, 2026]. WMBF News

That funding structure matters. Decisions about this road sit in Columbia, not at City Hall, and that shapes who has leverage.

The comment window closed in 2024

Residents did get one formal chance to weigh in. SCDOT held a community meeting on Feb. 29, 2024, in the North Myrtle Beach Government Office atrium, and accepted online feedback through March 15 [Horry Independent, 2024]. Opposition was voiced then. A Crescent Beach resident told reporters she opposed barriers in the middle of the road and worried U-turns at signals could collide with drivers turning right on red [WMBF, 2024]. WMBF News

What deserves scrutiny is what happened afterward. At that meeting the plans were preliminary, and SCDOT said it wouldn’t have a cost estimate until design was finished [Horry Independent, 2024]. Public reporting reviewed for this article shows no second meeting where residents saw the final design before construction started. Coverage at the time also described the project as being near Barefoot Landing, which may have led many Windy Hill and Crescent Beach residents to assume it didn’t affect them.

How one South Carolina town got medians removed

Other communities show what effective pushback looks like. On James Island, near Charleston, SCDOT proposed raised medians on Folly Road. Residents and businesses answered with public comments, emails, and a petition that drew more than 1,000 signatures [WCIV, 2026]. The town council then voted unanimously to deny SCDOT municipal consent for the work inside town limits [Live 5, 2026], and that standoff led SCDOT to pull back from improving Folly Road within the town [WCIV, 2026]. James Island SCDOT go back to the drawing board over Folly Rd. medians +2

The town did not reject safety upgrades outright. The mayor said James Island would accept the crosswalks, signals, and turn lanes if SCDOT dropped the medians from the business district [WCIV, 2026]. ABC News 4

The lesson for North Myrtle Beach is that the leverage came from the local government acting formally, and it came before construction. Individual complaints alone did not move SCDOT. A unanimous council vote did.

The safety case deserves a fair hearing

Residents weighing their options should also consider the evidence for medians. Federal highway officials say designs that route left turns through U-turns reduce the risk of the most severe crashes, such as head-on and angle collisions [FHWA]. FHWA also reports that raised medians at marked crosswalks have cut pedestrian crashes by 46 percent [FHWA, 2013]. Closer to home, a Goose Creek official said fatalities dropped to zero after SCDOT added raised medians at a problem spot [WCIV, 2026]. Reduced Left-Turn Conflict Intersections | FHWA +2

Access still has real costs. A Highway 17 kite shop owner said she fears southbound drivers will skip her store instead of looping back through a U-turn [WMBF, 2026]. Both concerns can be true at once, and residents deserve a transparent accounting of each. WMBF News

What residents can still do

Contact SCDOT directly. Call 1-855-GO-SCDOT (1-855-467-2368) and reference Project ID P037887. Ask for intersection-level crash data, and ask whether any median locations can still be modified.

Ask City Council where it stands. James Island’s outcome turned on municipal consent. Residents can ask North Myrtle Beach officials whether the city signed an agreement with SCDOT for this project, and whether council ever voted on it publicly.

Contact your state legislators. James Island paired its council resolution with outreach to its legislative delegation [Town of James Island, 2026]. jamesislandsc

Watch the next segment. SCDOT is also planning safety work farther north. It took public comment in 2025 on a proposal covering 20th Avenue South to 8th Avenue North, along with a Little River segment [SCDOT, 2025]. That stretch runs through the heart of the city, and it is where resident input may still shape the design. South Carolina Department of Transportation

The bottom line

The medians at these five intersections are almost certainly coming. The real questions now are whether North Myrtle Beach’s elected officials spoke up for residents when it counted, and whether residents will be ready before the next segment’s design is locked in.

Further Reading

• WMBF (2026), Project begins, business worries: https://www.wmbfnews.com/2026/09/17/us-17-corridor-improvements-project-begins-north-myrtle-beach-business-worries-impacts/
• WPDE (2026), Work begins at five intersections: https://wpde.com/news/local/work-begins-on-us-17-safety-upgrades-at-five-north-myrtle-beach-intersections
• Horry Independent (2024), Original project plans: https://www.myhorrynews.com/news/highway-17-improvements-planned-near-barefoot-landing-in-north-myrtle-beach/article_19f19114-da52-11ee-816f-27db7f3bad33.html
• WMBF (2024), Feb. 29 public meeting: https://www.wmbfnews.com/2024/03/01/scdot-looks-improve-safety-along-highway-17-near-north-myrtle-beach/
• SCDOT (2025), Next-segment public meeting: https://www.scdot.org/inside/SCDOTPress/2025/scdot-to-hold-a-drop-in-public-information-meeting-in-horry-coun1.html
• Live 5 (2026), James Island denies consent: https://www.live5news.com/2026/05/30/james-island-unanimously-votes-against-state-plan-over-raised-median-concerns/
• WCIV (2026), James Island and SCDOT at odds: https://abcnews4.com/news/local/charleston-county/james-island-scdot-go-back-to-the-drawing-board-over-folly-rd-medians-project-debate-charleston-south-carolina-community-project-roads-traffic-news-improvement-charleston-south-carolina-lowcountry
• FHWA, Reduced left-turn conflict intersections: https://highways.dot.gov/safety/proven-safety-countermeasures/reduced-left-turn-conflict-intersections
• FHWA (2013), Safety benefits of raised medians: https://highways.dot.gov/safety/pedestrian-bicyclist/background-resources/safety-benefits-raised-medians-and-pedestrian