SPARTANBURG – Denise Elston drives through Hearon Circle on her daily commute to work in the city and has fortunately never been involved in a car accident there.
It’s a roundabout that connects several roads to SC 85 Business and Asheville Highway. Over the years, Elston has learned how to change lanes without causing a rear-end collision. She wishes other drivers could do the same.
“You have to teach people how to drive it,” she said. “When you exit the next ramp, you have to move to the outside lane.”
On August 22, a meeting was held at the University of South Carolina Upstate for the public to review the South Carolina Department of Transportation’s plans to improve safety at Hearon Circle in Spartanburg.
Elston attended a public hearing hosted by the South Carolina Department of Transportation at the University of South Carolina Upstate on August 22. Department of Transportation staff answered questions and showed preliminary design plans. More than 50 people attended the open hearing.
The Department for Transport plans to make several changes to the roundabout to make it safer for drivers and pedestrians. From 2010 to 2020, there were 1,546 car crashes at the roundabout, with 80 percent of these crashes being rear-end collisions. 60 percent occurred between 12pm and 5pm.
Of the 1,546 accidents between 2010 and 2020, 13 percent resulted in injuries. The Department for Transport hopes that the proposed changes to the roundabout will make a difference.
“We will improve the intersections and shorten Simuel Road,” said DOT spokeswoman Peyton Lewis. “Simuel Road is a shortcut for many people and causes many accidents at that corner.”
The South Carolina Department of Transportation plans to spend $3.7 million on improvements to Hearon Circle in Spartanburg.
The Department of Transportation is expected to begin the $3.7 million roundabout improvements in early 2026 and complete the work in approximately 18 months. Planning for the project is expected to be completed by summer 2025.
Concrete islands are planned for several of the roads leading into the roundabout, and sidewalks are to be added in some areas. The two circulating lanes would remain on the north and south sides of the roundabout, but a single lane would be created on the east and west sides of the roundabout.
The access to the roundabout via Simuel Road would be closed and the SC 85 Business exit at Charisma Drive would be converted to a one-way system for traffic entering the roundabout.
The Department of Transportation is accepting public comments on the proposed project until September 6.
The engineering firm Stantec was commissioned to analyze and evaluate the safety and traffic conditions of the roundabout. The study included analyses of accidents in the roundabout, which showed that most accidents were caused by rear-end collisions. The second reason for most accidents was that vehicles collided at an angle. Other accidents were caused by vehicles brushing sideways while driving through the roundabout.
Most of the crashes occurred between Asheville Highway and the SC 85 Business northbound ramp, on the southeast approach to the roundabout along Asheville Highway, and near the northbound Simuel Road entrance to the roundabout.
There are several shops located at or near the roundabout.
According to the DOT, the average delay for vehicles attempting to enter the roundabout is more than two minutes during rush hour. The planned improvements would reduce that wait time to just over a minute during rush hour.
Although Elston was not involved in an accident at the roundabout, she was involved in an accident just a few blocks away. She is confident the planned improvements will make a difference.
“Nobody knows how to really drive it,” she said. “People just need to be educated.”
