Major Lexington County road project will not be included in planned penny sales tax vote
One of Lexington’s busiest roadways will not be getting an upgrade as part of the county’s planned penny sales tax.
Members of the commission putting together the list of road projects for a planned November referendum voted Tuesday to drop widening U.S. 378, one of the busiest roads in the fast-growing county. The massive project would detract too much from other road projects submitted for their consideration, according to the commission.
“We know that’s a hot topic,” Kyle Clampitt, a consultant with Alliance Engineering, told the commission about one of the county’s major traffic arteries. “It carries 33,000 cars per day.”
He called widening 378 a “very tall task” that would require feasibility studies, right-of-way acquisition and utility movement that would add up to a projected $137 million. But Clampitt was skeptical of the effect adding lanes to the cross-county highway could have on traffic backups.
“There’s an old rule in traffic design that you can’t widen your way out of congestion,” he said, adding that other projects on the list could help alleviate traffic on 378.
Without 378 in the mix, the proposed penny sales tax could cover all of the proposed projects recommended by the cities of Cayce, the towns of Batesburg-Leesville and Chapin and all but two of West Columbia’s requests. Otherwise, some municipalities may only see a single project get funded, according to Alliance’s scoring of the countywide project list. Looking at the entire project list, Clampitt said that “with 378 out, essentially all make it except for dirt-to-pave.”
Clampitt said Alliance’s rankings are based on a “cutoff” of around $500 million.
Cayce had recommended drainage improvements in the Avenues neighborhood, wastewater collection in the Avenues and Broadacres, relocating a utility line at Interstate 26 and S.C. 302, and improvements to the Riverwalk. West Columbia had requested a number of resurfacing and utility projects, including “corridor improvements” and wastewater extensions to the section of 378 inside the city limits.
The 378 corridor improvement was ranked by Alliance Contracting in its top 20 projects. The other projects are:
▪ Lexington County’s top eight repaving groups.
▪ Intersection improvements at Fish Hatchery Road and Pine Ridge Drive in Pine Ridge.
▪ Corridor improvements on Meeting Street in West Columbia, including sidewalks, landscaping and parking.
▪ Improvements to Hope Ferry Road and Sunset Boulevard in Lexington.
▪ Realigning Mineral Springs Road connector to Hope Ferry Road in Lexington.
▪ Resurfacing Fish Hatchery Road from U.S. 321 to Friendship Court.
▪ Intersection improvements at U.S. 321 and Mack Street in Gaston.
▪ Improvements to Woodrow Street at Lake Murray Boulevard in Irmo.
▪ Intersection improvements to Highway 23 and Mitchell Street, Batesburg-Leesville.
▪ U.S. 378 corridor improvements in West Columbia.
▪ Signal improvements at South Lake Drive and Interstate 20 in Lexington.
▪ Street improvements in Gilbert.
▪ Widening Long Pond Road.
Commission members voted unanimously to drop the 378 project from consideration.
“If there was ever a candidate for a ‘zero’ on shovel-readiness, that is it,“ said commission chairman Jim Ewart.
The six members of the commission are appointed by Lexington County and the county’s municipalities to review proposed projects submitted by Lexington County Council and the county’s cities and towns. They will approve and rank the projects that make the final list and write the ballot question on the penny sales tax that county voters will be asked to approve on Election Day.
The commission will meet again to discuss final project list on Friday, April 29, at the Lexington County Administration Building.
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