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 SCDOT proposal has county leaders concerned web posted February 21, 2008 COUNTY – A proposal by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) to begin turning some state roads over to the county for upkeep was mentioned during the Town Hall meeting held by Sen. Shane Massey Monday night. Edgefield County Councilman Everett Kitchens brought the subject up and said Edgefield County could not afford to maintain the additional roads. Sen. Massey said no bill has been introduced and that the proposal is just being discussed at this time. The proposal has garnered the interest of county leaders because South Carolina has the fourth largest state road system in the nation. The state road system has 41,391 miles of road, 8,331 state owned bridges, 830 miles of interstate, and 1.25 million driveway entrances in addition to curbing, gutters, and 34 rest areas. Many of the roads currently covered under the proposal are roads the SCDOT has deemed to be in poor condition and the state is not providing funding for their upkeep. These are the roads the SCDOT wants to turn over to the county governments. Edgefield County has an estimated 900 miles of paved roadway and just under 200 miles of dirt roads. Edgefield County Administrator John Pettigrew said the county does not have the proper funding to maintain the current road system in the county. “We can’t afford to take on more roads,” adding that he did not know of any county in the state that is able to assume the additional roads if the proposal was ever adopted. Funding for the county road system is balanced between maintaining the 200 miles of dirt roads, paving projects, and regular scheduled maintenance of county and some state roads. Mr. Pettigrew said the county could not assume the responsibility of the roads covered under the proposal unless the state diverted highway funds collected from the states 16 cent per gallon tax on gasoline sales. “They (the state) are not willing to do that,” Mr. Pettigrew said and even if the state were to initially offer funding they could just as easily remove the funding in a year or two. With the state’s 16 cent per gallon tax and Federal tax of 18 cents per gallon an estimated $1.4 billion is collected for road maintenance, yet only an estimated $542 million stays in state. Of that money $42 million goes towards other programs. South Carolina’s secondary roads are the third most deadly in the nation and receive the lowest amount of funds for repairs and repaving. According to the South Carolina Association of Counties, the lack of funding has allowed some of the secondary road system in the state to deteriorate to the point that most have to be rebuilt rather than be repaired. Councilman Willie Bright said that the proposal is something county leaders need to be concerned about, “We need to wake up,’ Mr. Bright said, “there’s no way we can take care of the roads. If the state doesn’t’ have the money to do it, we (the county) sure don’t have the money.” Bright said such a move could push rural counties such as Edgefield into fiscal dire straights. "We'd have to buy all kinds of new equuipment." By the Numbers: Edgefield County Paved Roads: (est.) 900 miles Dirt Roads: (est.) 200 miles South Carolina Miles of road (dirt and paved): 41,391 State owned bridges: 8,331 (20% rated as inferior) Interstate: 830 miles Rest areas: 34 Curb and gutter: 4,356 miles Driveway entrances: 1.25 million Traffic signs: 530,000 Road shoulder mowing: 75,000 miles Sidewalks: 3,787 miles Guardrails: 1,300 miles ©
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