501

{{Editor's Note - This review was made for Friday, May 18th, but I accidentally saved it as a draft.  This means it does not read with the correct date.  Sorry for any confusion.  Silly buttons...confusing me!}}

As I am still pretty new to driving, I don't always feel like I can comment on driving related issues.  Fortunately, I am blinded by my annoyance at times, hence reviews like this one.  Having driven north to Pennsylvania and south to Florida, I feel like I've driven on a lot more roads.  As such, I've noticed that 501 is just plain terrible.

501 is the road the majority of people going in and out of Myrtle Beach are forced to use, depending on which way they arrive in Myrtle Beach.  You can tell because it is often backed up when heading into Myrtle Beach.  When we came down to check out a place to stay before moving, we sat in traffic for close to an hour.  There was an accident, but the road doesn't have sufficient lanes to keep traffic moving when something like that happens.

Sometimes, 501 gets backed up just because of the number of people on their way into town.  The bottleneck seems to be primarily caused by the small bridge that crosses the intracoastal waterway.  Shortly after the bridge, you run into a light.  If you are smart enough to leave 501 before the light, you're probably getting on 17.  Luckily, if you do that, it is set up like a normal exit, allowing you decent visibility and enough of a partial lane to safely merge.

The same cannot be said if you are going from 17 to 501.  To see what's coming, you have to look back under the over-pass.  People behind you, waiting to merge as well, get very nasty when you wait before going.  You have very limited visibility approaching the merge point.  They either need to alter the on ramp or put in a light.  I know my feelings are probably indicative of my inexperience, but I actively avoid 501.  I either find a better way to get on 501, such as the Seaboard light, or I choose other destinations that don't make me rely on 501 to reach them.

501 is a terrible road.  There are not enough lanes to handle the traffic, and it's difficult to merge onto 501 when heading out of town.  Do yourself a favor.  If you have an alternate route that allows you to stay off of 501, take it.