Since 1997, 33 people have died on the thin 22-mile stretch from Gardens Corner to Jacksonboro, including a July 5 accident that killed a Big Estate woman andinjured a Beaufort man.
"It's gotten to the boiling point," Sanford said at a Gardens Corner news conference Monday before a crowd of more than 30 people, most friends and family of those lost on the highway.
A May episode of "Dateline NBC" profiled U.S. 17 as one of the country's most dangerous roads and national attention was given to a March 2004 Navy bus accident that resulted in the death of three sailors and injured more than 70.
Col. Russell Roark with the Highway Patrol said the state Department of Pubic Safety will evaluate results of the three-week effort to determine if changes are needed.
"We're here until the problem resolves itself," he said.
Sanford requested that the Public Safety Department come up with an enforcement plan after the most recent deaths on the highway, including four deaths June 23 in a three-car accident and last week's death of Lashawnda Fields, 24, of Big Estate.
"This road has become somewhat of a killing zone," he said.
The state Department of Transportation is expected to install rumble strips on the center line within the next three months and reflectors to highlight lane boundaries in an attempt to keep drivers alert, Transportation Commissioner John Hardee has said. The department also will study reducing the speed limit.
Beaufort resident Dana Gasque, who lost her son David "Cooper" Gasque in an accident Jan. 17, 2004, said the increased enforcement and other safety measures are welcome news, but long-term improvements are necessary.
"I think it's wonderful, but it won't fix the problem," she said. "Four-laning is what's going to fix the problem."
The Transportation Department is moving forward with $7.75 million in preliminary studies and planning for widening the road, but most of the up to $200 million needed to pay for the widening has not been found.
Sanford said his concern is moving through environmental studies that should be completed in November and move on with permitting in early 2006.
"The money will be found," he said.
Money has already been found through federal bridge replacement and state intersection improvement funds to replace the Combahee River bridge later this year and improve the S.C. 64 intersection in Jacksonboro in mid-2006.
Proposals to divert truck traffic through Walterboro to Interstate 95 have also resurfaced after last week's accident.
An unknown trucker crossed into oncoming traffic, forcing Fields off the road, according to authorities, who said she hit a car driven by Cecil West head-on when she re-entered the road.
West was listed in fair condition Monday at Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah
Although it would add time to travel for truckers, Sanford said diverting the trucks should be considered if enforcement and rumble strips aren't successful in curbing accidents and fatalities.
"It's something our administration is open to," he said. "Clearly something needs to be done."