WALTERBORO--City Council is pleading with the state Department of Transportation not to redirect traffic through the city while widening a deadly stretch of U.S. Highway 17.

The council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday that says an additional 2,000 trucks a day on the city's most heavily traveled streets would cause serious problems and safety issues, much as it has on U.S. 17.

There have been several deadly wrecks on the 22-mile stretch of highway between Jacksonboro in Colleton County and Gardens Corner in Beaufort County, including one that killed three sailors in March 2004.

Though the widening project is still under discussion, officials have talked about rerouting U.S. 17 traffic onto S.C. Highway 64 to the Interstate 95 interchange in Walterboro while the construction is being done. Officials said the widening project could take three years.

Mayor Charlie Sweat said rerouting truck traffic onto S.C. 64 and into Walterboro would move the problem from one highway to another.

Councilman Bill Young, who was elected mayor pro tem Tuesday, said that most Walterboro residents take S.C. 64 to Charleston and that the two-lane road is ill-equipped to handle more truck traffic.

A chart included in the resolution says it would take trucks coming to and from Charleston only five more minutes to use I-26 than S.C. 64.

The resolution asks that the Transportation Department take whatever steps necessary to ensure motorists' safety but that it not reroute traffic through Walterboro.

The resolution states that there is only one stretch on S.C. 64 that is suitable for passing. The rest of the highway is restricted by curves or major intersections.

Once inside city limits, the trucks would be routed onto the city's bypass, Robertson Boulevard, to get to I-95.

City officials say a lot of school and bus traffic from Colleton Middle School comes in and out of Robertson .

The bypass is expected to become even busier in the fall when a Wal-Mart Supercenter is built where it intersects with S.C. 64.