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Commuters: Newly paved Highway 521 in Lancaster Co. still dangerous to drive

LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. — You wouldn't think a thing about it, driving on Highway 521 during the day. However, it's dark in the morning rush now, and more commuters like Priscilla Underwood are nervous behind the wheel.

"In the dark and no street lights, no reflectors, it's a guess," she said.

That's because Underwood said you can't see the lane stripes very well. In the middle of the road, or on the curbs.

Back in august, Channel 9 brought you the story when 521 was torn up for 11-miles, from near Lancaster up past Highway 5. Traffic backups stretched for miles as lane closures made the highway a tough commute.

Now, the concern is there are no reflectors in the center of the road yet. More than, the painted lane markers are temporary, and not very visible at night. Tonya Ghent drives from Heath Springs to Indian Land every morning.

"They're not reflective at all. You can barely see them," she said.

(Highway 521 in Lancaster County)

DOT says that's because contractors haven't done the last step, which is re-striping the lanes and curbs with a thicker stripe that uses tiny glass beads to make it far more reflective.

DOT did just add another safety feature, a rumble strip to the shoulder of 521. That work may have also helped obscure the curb stripes.

DOT engineers told Channel Nine Tuesday that they expect the contractor to begin working on the reflectors and new lane markers by Thursday.

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