Hilton Head’s intersections becoming more treacherous for pedestrians to navigate | Opinion

Make intersections safer

We live a short distance from the library and enjoy walking there.

Crossing William Hilton Parkway from the library to Gardner Drive has become very dangerous due to left-turning cars that do not stop for people who are lawfully using the crosswalks and traffic/pedestrian walk signals to cross.

Recently, after waiting for the walk signal, my husband almost was hit by the driver of the third car going through the intersection who decided to go around him instead of stopping and yielding as the law requires.

The driver was going so fast that the car went off the roadway.

I was behind my husband and still had to cross. Drivers continued to drive through (and around me) instead of stopping.

I observed a total of 8-10 drivers who were oblivious to the law – even though there is a sign installed over the street to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.

To top it off, we had to suffer the indignity of another driver honking at us as though we were in the wrong when we were clearly following the law.

We cannot change people’s reckless, careless and lawless behavior, but we can change traffic patterns.

Change the intersection crossing to make it similar to the intersection with Wilborn/Jarvis Creek Park Roads so that drivers cannot turn left while a “walk” signal is illuminated for the crosswalk.

How many more pedestrians need to be injured or die on our idyllic island at the hands of lawless drivers?

Stephanie Quigg, HHI

Not again

Less than a decade ago, we saw an energy disaster in South Carolina.

The V.C. Summer Nuclear Station’s construction project finally fizzled out after years of delays and cost overruns.

Customers ended up footing the bill for a failed plant that generated no electricity.

The companies involved, Santee Cooper and SCE&G (now Dominion Energy), promised they would change.

But here we are, just a few years later, and the utilities are at it again.

Despite an independent report suggesting cheaper options, Santee Cooper and Dominion want another mega-project — a gas plant in Colleton County.

Once again, utilities want a blank check backed by customers to build a big, risky project.

This gas plant won’t be complete for at least seven years, even though utilities say we need more energy now.

I hope that this time, decision-makers see the mega-project for the potential boondoggle it could be and pursue other options.

Call or write your state representatives and let them know that any new resource plan from the utilities must include renewables, and must have a clear path to transition off of fossil fuels.

Mike Bogle, Beaufort

Thank you, Nancy Mace

While Congress suffers from its stagnant inability to address national and global issues or pass any meaningful legislation other than naming a Post Office, you chase after windmills.

Please explain to your constituents how the Morgan Island facility takes precedence over border security?

How about explaining why continued funding for Israel and Ukraine or the injury and deaths of our troops at the hands of Iran proxies is less important than how an animal bred for research is used?

We anxiously await your response. Or better yet, don’t waste your time doing that when you can go back to D.C. and get something ... anything done.

Richard Dextraze, HHI

Politics and the vulnerable

More Americans were homeless in 2023 than ever before – especially among the elderly and disabled.

It isn’t uncommon to see unhoused people in wheelchairs, carrying oxygen tanks and dealing with a variety of other health challenges. Politicians have proposed tent cities, mental institutions and passing stricter laws to keep the homeless off the streets.

Homelessness is obviously a multifaceted issue.

In addition to addressing the lack of affordable housing, we need more conversations about Social Security and Medicaid. SSI, a program for seniors and people with disabilities, has strict asset limitations. These arbitrary laws discourage recipients from earning and saving more money.

If seniors and people with disabilities have more than $2,000 in savings, the benefit can be revoked. High rent outpaces federal disability payments. The program itself locks millions into poverty.

Warehousing people who are capable of living independently will ultimately cost more than addressing systemic causes of homelessness among the elderly and disabled.

Now that the primaries are happening, it is time for candidates to discuss policies that affect our most vulnerable citizens. Voters deserve better than screeds, gaffes and meltdowns.

Marie Griffin, Spartanburg