Road slated for "Pennies" upgrade

By Kimberly Dick - Kimberly Dick

LAKE WYLIE -- The S.C. 274 intersection where a woman died in a wreck Thursday is slated to be realigned as part of the county's Pennies for Progress program.

But neighbors say they're frustrated that upgrades to the intersection are taking so long.

A van and a pick-up truck collided near the intersection of S.C. 274 and Pole Branch Road before 9 p.m. Thursday, Lance Cpl. Jeff Gaskin of the state Highway Patrol said.

Vivian Bradley, 59, of Lake Wylie was pronounced dead at Piedmont Medical Center, said York County Deputy Coroner Ev Amick. Three others were injured in the collision.

Bradley was a passenger in a van heading northbound on S.C. 274. Its driver, Judy Winkler, 62, of Lake Wylie, was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center, Gaskin said. A hospital spokeswoman said she was in fair condition Friday evening.

Two children, also in the van, were taken to Piedmont Medical Center. Their conditions were not known Friday evening. The vehicle was returning home from Vacation Bible School at New Life Baptist Church, said Lisa Hepfer, Bradley's daughter.

The pickup truck driven by James Arthur Bren, 60, of Spirit Lake, Idaho, was westbound on Pole Branch Road when the crash occurred, Gaskin said. Bren was not injured in the collision.

The crash remains under investigation and no charges have been filed, he said.

The intersection

This intersection of S.C. 274 and Pole Branch Road is scheduled to be realigned as part of a $8.5 million Pennies for Progress project passed by voters in 2003. Pennies uses 1-cent of sales tax on purchases in York County to fix and upgrade roads.

Between 2005 and 2007, there were seven crashes there, according to data provided by the state Department of Public Safety. None of those resulted in fatalities.

York County Transportation Manager Phil Leazer said the intersection's angle needs to be improved for safety.

"It tends to be less safe than a 90-degree intersection," Leazer said. "The hills and sharp curves on Pole Branch Road can be confusing to a driver not familiar to the area. This realignment will help make it a more traditional intersection."

Bill Bradley, whose wife died in Thursday's wreck, said locals in the area know that the intersection lends itself to problems.

"We know that that's a dangerous intersection," he said. "There've been wrecks there before."

Upgrades to the intersection are being planned, with construction scheduled to start in 2010.

"We have begun the design of that project," Leazer said. "It's a fairly busy intersection. Hopefully the improvements can be somewhat of a positive thing."

On Friday, family members gathered in Bradley's Lake Wylie home to remember the woman affectionately known as "Mimi," a woman of faith and family.

"She walked that life of a Christian woman, and she lived that life every day," Hepfer said.

Last year, 11,300 vehicles traveled the southern portion of S.C. 274 leading up to Pole Branch Road, Leazer said. At the intersection, Leazer said the traffic splits, with about 6,500 cars turning on Pole Branch Road and more than 4,000 continuing on S.C. 274.

Neighbors in the area say the intersection has been a problem for years, especially for turning vehicles. Phyllis Reid, who lives just north of the intersection, was involved several years ago in a collision there.

"My husband hates that intersection," she said. "For years he's been calling people about it. They just don't seem to be concerned about changing it."

Tim Reid, a resident in the area since 1962 who travels through the intersection every day, contacted state Rep. Herb Kirsh, D-Clover, on Friday and plans to have neighbors at his roadside produce stand sign a letter addressing the problem that he will send to the S.C. Department of Transportation.

"It takes years to get something done, and that's just ridiculous," Reid said. "I've told every highway patrolman that comes through here about it."

The Reids are frustrated that improvements have taken so long, and still are not in place.

"I haven't called anyone about it for five or six years, because I figured I might as well talk to a pole," Tim Reid said.