Roadway repairs present long-term problem

By Charles Sowell  

JULY 20, 2010 7:28 a.m. (0)

Cash strapped South Carolina faces an ever growing deficit with highway maintenance issues with 25,783 centerline road miles that are rated as poor out of a system that encompasses 41,000 miles; the cost to fix it is $8.6 billion.

In 2010 state Department of Transportation (DOT) officials let contracts to resurface and repair 470 centerline miles. It will take almost 55 years to address the needs of today at current rates of funding, DOT figures show.

Greenville County is number two on the state repair list of major metropolitan areas with 1,007 centerline miles needing work, but the cost will be highest in the state at $397,477,000. Richland County needs the most number of miles, 1,059, but the costs will be lower $393,449,000.

Charleston County, on the other hand, has 744 miles needing reconstruction or rehabilitation with an estimated cost of $277,708,000.

The reason for the discrepancy is Charleston County repaves highways regardless of ownership and funds it through a 1/2-cent sales tax option passed in 1994, said Jim Armstrong, director of transportation development for the transportation sales tax program for the county.

Voters in Charleston bought into the idea that a sales tax option with a 25-year, or $1.033 billion, sunset clause and a definite set of priorities was worth the risk, Armstrong said.

It has paid off in better roads and an arguably powerful incentive for industrial recruitment with the recent Boeing plant announcement.

H.B. “Buck” Limehouse, director of state DOT, said his agency needs more funding for road repair regardless of the source.

He feels certain, as the nation transitions from gasoline to alternative sources of fuel, gas tax revenues will fall.

The state funds all of its highway programs through one of the lowest gasoline taxes in the nation. The rest of DOT’s budget comes from federal money and grants. Other states contribute from general funds to cover highway costs.

Limehouse feels more counties will go to the sales tax option over time and sees a potential remedy for state funding shortfalls through initiatives at the local level.

Sen. David Thomas, R-Fountain Inn, is also chairman of the Greenville-Pickens Area Transportation Study committee. He sees firsthand the need locally but is not certain state lawmakers trust DOT enough to give them more money.

GPATS has estimated its service area is short between as much as $800 million out of as much as $1.1 billion in funding needs for transportation issues of all kinds through 2030, including new highways.

In Charleston those funding needs are being met through the sales tax option, Armstrong said.

“We split part of our revenue stream and dedicated it to paying off bonds for new road construction,” he said.

Despite the South Carolina’s obvious road problems it ranks well compared to neighboring states, said David Hartgen, a retired professor of transportation issues and private consultant on highways in Charlotte.

In a nationwide study due to be released in the fall, Hartgen said South Carolina is 6^th in the nation, overall, for the efficiency of its DOT during 2008. The worst year of the recession.

The study takes into consideration a wide variety of parameters, but in highway performance and cost effectiveness South Carolina does well. The state gets a lot of mileage out of its highway department on most issues, Hartgen said.

The state ranks 48^th in fatalities and 22^nd in deficient or functionally obsolete bridges and it does well on urban interstate congestion, ranking 38^th.

Despite this, South Carolina has slipped in the study’s rankings over the years. In 2007 the state was ranked 4^th in the nation; 2006 it was 6^th; 2005 it was ranked 2^nd; and in 2004 3^rd.

“South Carolina is a small state with a small budget and big state highway needs,” Hartgen said.

South Carolina has the 5^th largest state highway system of any state in the nation.

Comments

Add New

Leave a Comment
Comments are moderated and may not be posted immediately.
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Title:
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."