Tough commute in store for drivers headed to Beaufort on Highway 170 Thursday afternoon

A confluence of late afternoon accidents and a bridge inspection delivered one of the toughest drives commuters on Highway 170 have seen this year. Two Thursday afternoon collisions, both on the Broad River Bridge, are creating a bottleneck of delays for motorists heading east to Beaufort.

The two-car accident and a separate five-car collision have traffic heading into Beaufort backed up across Lemon Island. The right Eastbound lane of Highway 170 is blocked. There were no significant injuries in either collision, according to Maj. Angela Viens, spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

The cause of the collisions is unknown, but the South Carolina Highway Patrol will investigate both. Highway Patrol was not on the scene as of 4 p.m. Thursday.

The Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority’s pipeline inspections on the bridge had already shuttered a portion of the right lane Thursday, contributing further to backups after the collisions.