Mount Pleasant transportation officials are asking residents to sound off on dangerous intersections, rough roads and unsafe walking or biking areas as the town updates its existing Safety Action Plan. The push comes even as the town had 3,070 collisions in 2024, including 450 that involved injuries and five that were fatal, according to Mount Pleasant Police Department crash data.
The survey effort was first detailed by WCIV, which reported that some neighbors say local street conditions are falling short even though Mount Pleasant ranks among the state's safest communities. One neighbor told the station that potholes are bad and traffic lights are unsatisfactory, a sentiment that stands in contrast to data from U.S. Crime Data, which ranks Mount Pleasant as the city with the least amount of road danger in South Carolina and in the top 10 nationally, per the same report.
Town officials say the feedback will help guide work in three areas: education, enforcement and engineering, according to WCIV's reporting. WCBD News 2 reports the town is specifically inviting input on an intersection that feels unsafe, a road that needs improvement, or an area that could be better for people walking or biking.
How the Town Is Prioritizing Problem Spots
Behind the survey is a methodology the Town of Mount Pleasant says it already used to build its Safety Action Plan, drawing on existing crash frequency, accident severity, and other roadway and intersection safety audit characteristics such as speeds, volumes and geometry. The town says areas of concern were ranked using both quantitative and qualitative data and prioritized for project implementation. That process has already produced a slate of fixes officials hope to accelerate with fresh federal dollars.
The amount of that federal grant, however, depends on which source is cited. WCIV reported that Mount Pleasant was awarded a $15 million grant in 2023 through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets 4 All campaign. The Town of Mount Pleasant's own announcement states its Capital Projects & Transportation Division was awarded a $15.78 million grant through the Safe Streets and Roads for All initiative. The Post and Courier reported a still different total, saying the grant is for $15.79 million, including a 20 percent municipal match of $3.2 million, in coverage from The Post and Courier.
Seventeen Projects, One 2030 Deadline
Whatever the final figure, the town says the money is earmarked for 17 safety improvement projects outlined and prioritized in its Safety Action Plan, per its own announcement. WCIV reports those 17 projects are expected to be completed by September 2030. The Post and Courier's reporting adds some technical context for the kind of fixes under consideration, citing a study presented at a Mount Pleasant meeting that found an average reduction of 33 percent in all accident types can be achieved by replacing two-way left-turn lanes with raised medians.
Potholes have been a more immediate, visible frustration for drivers while the bigger safety projects take shape. Mount Pleasant public services workers filled 451 potholes in 2025, up from 386 in 2024, according to WCIV's reporting on the town's annual report.
Mount Pleasant Joins a Regional Push
Mount Pleasant is not alone in this exercise. The Post and Courier reports that Mount Pleasant and Summerville have received the same federal grant as North Charleston to develop their own Safety Action Plans. North Charleston's version combines data-driven statistics, like traffic fatalities and crash data, with feedback from residents, and that city is collecting input through an interactive map where people can place an icon identifying a location and describe the improvement they want, the newspaper reported. North Charleston's plan is meant to guide future road improvements such as safer pedestrian and bike crossings, traffic alleviation, and improved lighting and street signs — the same broad categories Mount Pleasant officials say they are weighing as they sort through resident complaints about potholes, traffic lights and roads that, to some neighbors, simply need to work better.
