Suicide Merge at North Bridge Solved With Tollbooth

For more than 20 years, West Ashley residents have fought to find a solution to a dangerous merge where Highway 171 and Sam Rittenberg Boulevard meet. Unregulated by any sort of traffic calming device, drivers tend to rocket into the merge, crossing their fingers that another car won’t suddenly appear from behind the thickly hedged median dividing the two 45 mph lanes.
Thanks to some innovative thinking on behalf of local entrepreneur William “Willy” Hershey, a solution to the merge is right around the corner.
“I had just hit the gas at the merge, barely squeezing between a Cadillac and an old station wagon, when it hit me; why not put in a tollbooth?” says Hershey.
After receiving the hearty approval of City Council, Hershey immediately set up a temporary toll to test its effectiveness on merging traffic. According to Hershey, the booth worked beautifully.
“Since it was a temporary set up, I just stuck a sign in the ground that said ‘tollbooth’ and walked between the two lanes with a stop sign. Some jerks just sped by but I was able to handle most  of the traffic. I tell you, though, some people didn’t have the nicest things to say,” says Hershey.
The biggest point of contention, apart from the delay in traffic, has been the price. Since the tollbooth is privately owned, Hershey has set the toll at $1.25.
I had one driver ask me how much the toll was and then asked if he should give me the money or just shove the quarters directly up my fat [expletive deleted],” says Hershey.
Even a local bishop gave Hershey a hard time when he asked if the toll was the same price his mother charges for certain questionable activities.
Despite the difficult customers, however, Hershey has been able to reduce traffic incidents by almost 95 percent since opening the tollbooth. With such a high rate of success, Hershey has stated that he’s now considering opening another toll on the road to Kiawah and Seabrook Islands, “just because.”
Happy April Fools!