Easley's Traffic Hot Topic on Twitter Friday Night
Fans trying to get to the new Easley High School Stadium off Pelzer Highway found themselves in a traffic nightmare
Traffic 1, fans 0.
That was the score entering the stadium in the first half of Friday night's high school football game between Daniel and Easley.
Check out our photo gallery from the game.
Snarled traffic along Highway 8 moved at a snail's pace toward Easley's new stadium.
Tim Tollison, a spokesman for Easley Police, said there were simply just too many people coming from the direction of Highway 123 to prevent the stop-and-go traffic. He said traffic flowed smoothly from the direction of Anderson into the stadium.
The conversations started to flow on Twitter.
Several commented it was like being at Clemson University on game day.
"It took us an hour and 15 minutes to get to the stadium," one person tweeted.
Easley resident Kevin Bishop tweeted it took him 50 minutes to get from Easley Post Office to the stadium, only about two and a half miles.
A few seconds later, a Daniel fan wrote, "we made it 2 our seats at the end of 1st Q....made it to Easley at 6:45."
The biggest problem was cars stopping in the intersection of Highway 123 and Highway 8.
Here's the play by play:
Penalty flag! Neutral zone infraction!
Or perhaps, it was the offensive line, a two-lane highway trying to accommodate hundreds of cars. That line was quite offensive to incoming fans.
The best defense was to continuously watch other drivers trying to creep into the line, don't try any illegal blocks and keep a foot on the brake.
There were fewer traffic issues exiting the stadium after Easley won, 21-14. Some fans went into motion early in the fourth quarter.
Pickens Resident
9:47 am on Saturday, August 25, 2012
It's not like Pickens county had no idea this would happen,, they've been planning these schools for years. Guess as usual they just didn't think the whole thing through.
One can only assume that if they continue to hire the same type of contractors as they have in the past, that residents will have at least 3 years of traffic issues to look forward too.
If there were a little common sense in the county offices we may not have this many problems, not that there won't be any ,but maybe just not as many.
Carolyn Farr Smith
10:03 pm on Saturday, August 25, 2012
Pickens resident, I can't remember. Has there been any talk of widening this road? I worked in Spartanburg County for a number of years, and this same scenario took place. A Walmart, among other businesses, that opened along Highway 9 in Boiling Springs and it was too much traffic, too soon.
Price
9:56 pm on Sunday, August 26, 2012
Good to see you Friday night Carolyn. That was the WORST traffic I have ever been in trying to get to a High School football game. The worst by far. You hit the nail on the head that it was like trying to get into Death Valley and hour before kickoff. Not for the football's sake, Pickens COunty needs to do something about the infrastructure on Highway 8. A neighbor of mine has a student at EHS and he said picking her up from school is ridiculous on a daily basis. Something will ultimately need to be done and soon. I think a traffic cop at 8/123 interchange would be a start on gamedays.
Carolyn Farr Smith
7:17 am on Monday, August 27, 2012
Price, Great to see you as well! While I'm sure the school traffic is not as bad a game day traffic, it still has to lead to quite a back up in the mornings. But on game days, I'm with you, they need to have an officer at that intersection to keep traffic moving through that area. But yes, I think Highway 8 is going to need some major planning in the very near future.