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Highway 25 expansion coming soon to
Edgefield County Edgefielddaily.com web posted May 6, 2005 An expansion of the multilane stretch of Highway 25 will be expanding in the near future according to Phillip Brooks, the SC DOT District Engineering Administrator. “There is a project on the books that will five lane Highway 25 from the present four lane area all the way to SC25/121 and SC19,” otherwise known as the Pinehouse Crossroads. The plans, he said, revolved around Highway 25 being a major trucking route and also as a way to solve many of the traffic problems that presented. Problems such as the one reported at the intersection of Bettis Academy Road and Highway 25. “I believe when that is done it will solve all the problems,” Brooks said adding, “It should be completed in the next five to eight years.” To complete the project some landowners will see a reduction in the buffer zone between their property and the highway. The current Right of Way owned by the SCDOT in the two lane area is sixty six feet, which will more than double as the project gets underway. To accommodate that, eminent domain will probably come into play with property owners who refute the value impact the widening will have on their property and the amount offered by the state for that property officials said. The traffic studies show a division of the heavy traffic at the SC25/121 and SC19 intersection. Future plans are to continue the five lane highway all the way to Edgefield. Funding, however, is a well known problem for South Carolina. Mile for mile, South Carolina is the lowest funded state highway system in the nation. The state depends solely on the revenue created from the fuel tax to maintain state roads and highways. This and the fact the state owns the fourth largest state owned highway system in the nation creates a huge shortfall of funds, delaying projects for years. Federal funds are available, but those, according to SCDOT, are to be used for new projects such as bridges and interstate improvement access and 20% must come from the general operating budget for road maintenance. That further limits other projects and resurfacing projects of secondary roads, which are the deadliest in the state carrying 74% of all traffic and account for 90% of all accidents. Related Articles: Local resident takes on bureaucracies for traffic light at deadly intersection Part 1 Local resident takes on bureaucracies for traffic light at deadly intersection Part 2 Return to Main Page
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