GDOT begins traffic study on SR 204 corridor

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A traffic study is underway along one of the busiest and congested corridors into the Savannah area.

The study by the Georgia Department of Transportation will look at ways to improve traffic flow on State Route 204/Abercorn Street Extension between U.S 17 and King George Boulevard.

“There are two aspects to that study,” said Jill Nagel, GDOT District Communications Officer. “One will be how to enhance safety for motorists and also operational improvements how can we move cars through that corridor faster and more efficiently.”

An estimated 57,400 cars travel eastbound each day on the corridor into Savannah, according to 2020 annual average daily traffic counts. The traffic count from 2020 is the most recent data available from GDOT. The data from 2019 showed 63,500 cars.

For Georgetown resident Treit Bui, who commutes into Savannah every week day, the idea of a traffic study to resolve the rush hour backups, he said, is a waste of taxpayer money. The source of the backups during his commute, he said, are because of the stoplight at SR 204 and Pine Grove Drive. He’s called GDOT engineers and Chatham County engineers in the past, he said, to make them aware and to ask them to extend the light cycle to improve drive times during rush hour.

“Normal time, it takes me from Savannah Mall to my house without traffic maybe five minutes. At 5 o’clock, it will take me 30 minutes plus to get home,” he said.

WTOC Investigates traveled the corridor multiple times over the past several weeks during the morning rush hour. While backups are common, the stoplight at Pine Grove Drive didn’t delay our travel by more than five minutes.

The light at Pine Grove Drive serves the residential neighborhoods split by the highway.

“We do need to provide them a safe passage getting on and off 204 - so that’s why you would have a signal there,” Nagel said.

GDOT says the traffic study on 204 is expected to take two to three months.

It began in April, so by July the results of the study are expected to be completed.

WTOC will provide an update once the results are available.

The last major construction project along SR 204 is when GDOT completed the Georgetown overpass in 2018.

The $28.5 million flyover project allows drivers on 204 to bypass King George Boulevard.

It has improved traffic flow for Georgetown residents in that area and also has reduced the number of rear-end crashes at the intersection, Nagel said.

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