BEAUFORT -- Gov. Mark Sanford is expected to announce Monday an increase in Highway Patrol enforcement on U.S. 17 in Beaufort County following several recent fatalities, including a Tuesday crash in which woman was killed.

That wreck and a June 23 collision that killed four people are the latest in a growing number of traffic deaths on the narrow, 22-mile stretch from Gardens Corner to Jacksonboro. Since 1997, 33 people have died on the highway.

Spokesmen with the state Department of Public Safety and the Governor's Office refused to make any further comment on the changes Friday.

"The governor asked us to put together something and that's what we've done," said Sid Gaulden, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.

Sheriff P.J. Tanner said the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office relies heavily on the Highway Patrol for enforcement along the road.

"Being visible is a deterrent itself," he said.

The county has increased its level of patrols, Tanner said, but he could not provide specific numbers Friday.

Also Monday, Big Estate residents are expected to gather at the Booker T. Washington Community Center to share concerns and sign a petition calling for immediate action to improve safety on the road.

LaShawnda Fields, 24, of Big Estate died in a head-on collision that marked the sixth death this year on the highway.

Fields' cousin Bill Ladson said Friday that he hopes residents will come to the meeting and demand immediate improvements.

"People are wondering when enough is enough," he said.

Fields reportedly was run off the road by a tractor-trailer that crossed into oncoming traffic, according to authorities. She overcorrected and hit a car driven by Cecil West of Beaufort. In fair condition earlier this week at Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, West had regressed to critical condition by Friday, hospital officials said.

Ladson, a former County Council member who represented the area, said residents need to speak out and help find immediate solutions to the dangers of the highway, including increased enforcement and signs alerting drivers to be patient and alert.

"This is the danger of the road -- everybody is in a rush," Ladson said. "People just don't pay attention."

The state Department of Transportation is expected to build rumble strips on the center line and use reflectors to highlight lane boundaries in an attempt to keep drivers alert, said Transportation Commissioner John Hardee. It also will study the impact of potentially reducing the speed limit.

The efforts are temporary solutions as the state moves through $7.75 million in preliminary studies and planning for widening the road. However, financing for most of the construction has not been found.

Big Estate resident Emily Stewart said she was in a wreck on the highway in the 1990s when her car was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler. She said all the residents of the rural community have similar stories on the dangers of U.S. 17.

"I'm just one in the number," she said.

Stewart said she hopes to see more than 100 people at the event and that any innovative ideas presented will lead to immediate action.

"We can hold 100 meetings," she said, "but if there's no action, then nothing gets done."