A look at where the state stands on safety and road work

The increased transportation funds thru the passage of South Carolina’s 2017 Roads Bill (Act 40) has allowed the state to move forward on projects to improve safety and accelerate road and bridge repairs, but a national organization says challenges remain to an aging system.  A new report by national transportation research non-profit TRIP states that the challenges to be met are reliably accommodating passenger and freight traffic to serve the needs of a growing economy.  South Carolina’s secretary of transportation, Christy Hall, agrees.  Hall reacted by saying, “The TRIP report also reinforces something else South Carolinians see every day on our highways:  congestion, which continues to increase.”  The report also notes that the average driver in the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Metro Area loses 26 hours and wastes 12 gallons of fuel annually as a result of congestion.  Two of the ten most congested interchange segments in South Carolina are in the GSA Metro Area.”  Secretary Hall commented:  “Congestion needs to be addressed on our urban ad rural interstates, such as accelerating the widening of I-26 between Columbia and Charleston.  She repeated her call for the U-S congress to pass the Bi-partisan Infrastructure Investment Act to fund road and bridge work and for South Carolina policymakers to continue their commitment to invest in infrastructure in the state.