Lexington County roads list drops $27 million worth of projects after council rejection
The list of projects that Lexington County voters could be asked to vote on this November got a little bit shorter on Tuesday.
A committee tasked with drawing up the list of transportation-related projects voted to cut several submitted projects that would not have improved the county’s overcrowded roadways.
Tuesday’s vote came a week after Lexington County Council turned down the initial project list because of concerns it included too many non-transportation projects that council members feared would drag down a ballot question voters have already rejected once before.
Committee members — volunteer representatives of the county and the town of Lexington — had previously approved a list of projects submitted by county council and the county’s municipalities that would have funded at least $450 million in projects, depending on how much money a new penny sales tax raises over the next eight years.
But on Tuesday, the committee voted to do away with $27 million worth of projects, around 8% of the total project list.
Some of the dropped projects include $13 million for wastewater collection improvements for the Avenues and Broadacres area of Cayce, $1.74 million in planned improvements to the Cayce Riverwalk, and almost $380,000 to build a sidewalk connecting Lexington Avenue in Chapin to Crooked Creek Park.
Dropping those projects would allow other transportation-related projects to get funding. The total list of projects runs to almost 400 listed projects costing more than $600 million. The $450 million figure that will be listed on county voters’ ballots is a lower estimate of what a countywide penny sales tax will bring in, with projects further down the list picking up funding if tax revenue exceeds the $450 million estimate.
County council members voted down the initial list at a May 24 meeting, citing concerns that asking voters to fund projects that don’t improve roadways could impend its chances of passing a November referendum. A similar project list went down to defeat in a public vote in 2014.
“We all agreed if you can’t drive on it and put rubber on it, we don’t support it,” said County Council Chairman Scott Whetstone.
Engineering consultant Kyle Clampitt told the sales tax committee on Tuesday that changing the list won’t remove projects meant to improve drainage on easily-flooded roadways, since those will still count as road-related projects, as will road-improvement projects that include the addition of features like sidewalks.
.jpg)