NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WJBF) – A nearly two-mile stretch will be examined from the Georgia Avenue Bridge up to Martintown Road.

“People just drive too fast through here,” Steve Garrick told NewsChannel 6’s Aiken Bureau Chief Shawn Cabbagestalk. “We do saturations down here in order to keep people slow down as much as possible,” North Augusta Department Public Safety Lt. Junior Johnson added.

North Augusta City Council recently approved an agreement for a traffic calming and pedestrian access study. City leaders say the analysis is necessary to figure out what other improvements can be made along Georgia Avenue to get DOT approval for projects. “We have had some crashes down here on the Georgia Avenue corridor. We had one recently that involved a pedestrian,” Lt. Johnson said.

A 1.5-mile corridor along Georgia Avenue north of Martintown Road will be studied. It will be concentrated in the commercial area south of Jackson Avenue. “It’s kind of like heavy traffic. Some of these intersections are hard to get across, and know they cause a traffic jam. We have to stop and slam on brakes at times,” Amber Johnson added. “I got rear-ended lady going too fast. I was turned, I was getting ready to turn into the Waffle House here and evident she didn’t see me and just plowed right into the back of me”.

It could also look to see if making pedestrian crossings safer and adding better traffic control devices at specific intersections could be possible. “The important part is the crosswalks that are here is that people use what’s available to them. They’re coordinated with the traffic flow instead of trying to dart halfway across, not making it. it’s safer for all involved if you use the crosswalks that are available,” Lt. Johnson said.

A grant from the Federal Highway Administration will pay for 80% of the study, and the city will cover $10,000. It should take eight months to complete.