Millions of dollars recently allocated to pave, resurface SC roads

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The South Carolina Department of Transportation says $562 million will go toward paving and resurfacing projects in every South Carolina county for the upcoming fiscal year.

This money comes in addition to the $1.3 billion of road, bridge and safety project work SCDOT is currently working on using the state’s gas tax money.

The 2020-2021 paving plan will be resurfacing 661 miles of primary roads, farm-to-market roads and neighborhood streets. The roads are chosen based on safety and crash data, the condition and age of the roads and traffic information.

“We have a tremendous amount of neighborhood streets that a lot of other state DOT’s do not maintain,” Chief Engineer for Operations at SCDOT Andy Leaphart said.

Here is a breakdown of allocated money per county in the Lowcountry:

Charleston County: $12,271,717

Berkeley: $9,506,508

Colleton: $9,021,651

Dorchester: $5,914,970

SCDOT also created a new, interactive map where you can see those paving projects that were recently approved. You can see the map and the prioritized roads in each county by clicking: here. You can view a chart of the priorities in each county by clicking: here. You can read more about how the roads are picked by clicking: here.

“We believe this will be a great tool for the public to easily see the roads in their county and know where we’re going to be working,” Leaphard said about the new map feature.

Commissioner James McLawhorn expressed his concern to the Commission about getting public comments on this project.

“I think that what we really need to do is find ways to encourage the public to come out,” he added. “This is a very, very important plan.”

The public has 21 days to comment on the plan. Secretary of Transportation for SCDOT Christy Hall said they are working with community groups and churches to get the word out.

“We certainly want to give every opportunity for folks to have input into this because this is a significant amount of tax money being invested into paving projects all around the state,” Hall said.

You can give feedback by clicking: here.

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