‘Please help now’: Eastover man says storm damage has cut off his driveway

EASTOVER, S.C. (WIS) - Every storm triggers a waiting game for Scott Dixon on Oak Hill Road in Eastover.

Dixon said a recent storm wiped out recent county roadwork, keeping him from getting in and out of his driveway safely for more than a week and stopping his mail.

“Please help now,” Dixon said.

Resident describes road conditions

Dixon described his road as a nightmare. He said it’s frustrating that the connecting road, Meadow Lane, looks like something out of a movie.

“Meadow Lane is like going down a, what’s the magic lane, the yellow brick road,” he said. “That’s the yellow brick road that everybody wants to be traveling, but it doesn’t do any good when you’ve got to go an eighth a mile down a one lane, washed out ditch.”

County response

Richland County Public Works said crews installed a new drainage pipe last week. The department said it was “unaware of Oak Hill Road being completely impassable at any point.”

“The washing out of the road, its a, its a nightmare, and with the rains, the way it’s coming down. It’s not anything like its ever been and without the water running into the pipes, it creates all kinds of problems,” Dixon said.

The county said mother nature and “sugar sand” — an ultra-fine soil resembling granulated sugar that is notoriously difficult to keep in place — are a bad mix.

Maintenance requests

County records show they have received three maintenance requests for the road since mid-July. Two are closed, and one is currently “on hold.”

“It’s fixable, it’s stoppable, but again, trying to get the information in the right hands and trying to get the stuff done, is just a nightmare,” Dixon said.

As far as safety on the road, Richland County said it takes time for preventable maintenance.

Richland County maintains approximately 900 miles of roads across the county.

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