IRMO, South Carolina — As the town of Irmo grows, new faces have brought new traffic problems residents say they want to see fixed.
AJ Cox says he's lived in Irmo for more than 20 years and calls the current state of traffic "atrocious."
"It's continually gotten worse over the years," Cox said. "You're taking your life into your hands."
The area near the intersection of Lake Murray Blv. and St. Andrews Road was a major talking point, many calling it consistently congested and even dangerous.
Irmo Mayor Hardy King says they've been working to fix the problem and even provided paperwork from last year outlining highways in need of improvement.
However, actually seeing those changes won't be easy, according to King, citing cost and community impact as hurdles.
"It's very expensive.... to widen an interstate," King said. "If you can't widen a road... then...you've got to get people off that road and either people decide the traffic is too bad [and] take another route.. or you entice them by widening other roads in other places..and that sounds good unless you live on one of those roads and they come knocking on your door saying, 'Hey, we gotta take 20 feet of your front yard."
It's a complex issue they're working to resolve, and one that seems to only get worse as the area continues to grow.
"They need to put more forethought into how to manage traffic flow before they allow all of these housing developments to be built," Cox said.