Folly Beach city council to ask for lower speed limit

FOLLY BEACH, SC (WCSC) - Folly Beach could soon see lower speed limits across the island.

As part of a special meeting on Tuesday, the city council will look at a resolution to reduce the speed limit throughout the island.

"We have a lot of cars that use this street to get to all sides of Folly Beach," Folly Beach resident and city council member Amy Ray said, talking about her own street.

The proposed request asks to drop the speed limit to 25 mph on all residential streets, and 20 mph on Center Street.

Currently, the speed limit for residential streets on Folly Beach is 30 mph.

"When you're standing still or you're riding your bike or walking to the beach, walking your dog, and somebody goes by you at 30, it feels too fast," Ray said. "It is too fast."

Tuesday night's vote will not actually change the speed limits on Folly Beach. That's something only the South Carolina Department of Transportation can do.

"They're going to be looking behind all the data, looking behind everything," Folly Beach City Administrator Spencer Wetmore said. "Ultimately, DOT has to make this decision based on how they treat residential roads throughout the state and the region."

That decision will also come from a traffic study SCDOT asked the city to conduct.

The study recommended most streets on Folly Beach be lowered to a 20 mph speed limit.

"I think we have much more to gain by doing that than we do just by lowering it five miles-per-hour," Ray said.

The special council meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Folly Beach City Hall.

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