The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) held a public hearing Thursday evening in at Saint James High School in Horry County.

Local residents were able to view displays of the widening and interchange project of Glenns Bay Road.

Some say they appreciate the overall goal of the project, but still have some concerns.

John Lennox was one of those residents. He lives just off of Glenns Bay Road.

He said, "During construction, for example, there is no way out up to 17 if the roads are closed. We're also concerned during emergency, how do we get out because there are not traffic lights?"

Mike Barbee with SCDOT said these public forums are important so residents like Lennox can voice their concerns and help the overall project.

"We've got some ideas (Thursday night) that we can take back to our engineers and have them look at changes we need to make and overall having a better product," said Barbee.

Once the preliminary designs are complete, residents can expect to see changes to the road at the beginning of next year.