Pender Co officials discuss Hwy 17 traffic issues

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY)– Pender County officials are speaking out after a car accident killed two young brothers.

Deadly accidents on Highway 17 are growing as a concern in Pender County for residents and county officials.

“Over the years it has happened numerous, too many times,” Pender County Manager Randell Woodruff said.

The Highway Patrol says there were 8 deaths on hwy 17 last year and this past weekend marked the first two deaths of this year.

“A family tragically lost two children,” Woodruff said. “There is nothing that could be any worse than that.”

That’s why Woodruff says they’ve been reaching out to state and federal officials for the Hampstead Bypass for months.

“It’s only going to get much worse,” Woodruff said.

He says about 1,000 people move to Pender every year.

“Take the traffic that is not local out onto the bypass,” Woodruff said.

He says after years they still can’t get funding for the project.

“Something the board is working on as a possibility is having a lobbyist advocate for Pender County,” Woodruff said.

He says the commissioners went to Raleigh in May and now they are talking about going to Capitol Hill to lobby for the bypass and anything else.

“Flashing lights, perhaps. Maybe they need more stop lights or maybe they need to lower the speed limit,” Woodruff said.

The Highway Patrol says they have 1 to 2 troopers on that stretch every day.

The Pender County Sheriff’s Office says they have two officers in that area during the day, but they also have to respond to other calls. Captain Billy Sanders says they have asked for more patrol officers, but they are still waiting for them to be added to the budget. Sanders says they also need help from drivers.

“People driving on Highway 17 need to pay attention to what they are doing,” Sanders said.

Representative Chris Millis held a town hall meeting in Hampstead as an open forum to talk about this and other issues. Many agreed the bypass could help with the congestion and activity in the area. But they are asking for a more immediate solution to the problem. Pender County residents told Millis they want even more law enforcement in the area.

“Between state patrol and county there’s got to be some collaboration that goes on here. And I believe the resources that we have are probably sufficient or we need to do more in our county,” Ed Hirsch said.

A spokesman with the NCDOT says he is working on getting WWAY a list of all current and future projects  in the works for the Pender County stretch of Highway 17.