Here’s what Midlands drivers can expect from higher road taxes

Midlands motorists soon will ride on smoother, safer roads and bridges.

In Richland County alone, 60 miles of roadway eventually will be resurfaced every year, double the current amount, state Transportation Department officials say.

Other improvements will include replacing 181 deficient Midlands bridges.

In addition, wider interstates will ease congestion in the Midlands, including in Richland, Lexington and Kershaw counties.

Those improvements are part of a statewide plan for spending new higher gas taxes, which started being collected July 1, that the Transportation Department’s oversight commission will hear Thursday.

Repaving roads

The added gas-tax money will more than double the most-trafficked S.C. primary roads that are in “good” condition.

By 2026, plans call for 53 percent of those roads to be in good condition, up from 19 percent now.

“The deterioration of the roads makes that a priority,” said state Rep. Gary Simrill, R-York, who sponsored the gas-tax proposal.

State Rep. Nathan Ballentine, R-Richland, said the investment will benefit S.C. residents, businesses and tourists, particularly in the Midlands. “As we see more people moving to and traveling in our state, we must be prepared to provide a core function of government — safe infrastructure,” he said.

Better bridges

The Transportation Department also is aiming to replace more than 400 bridges by 2026.

In the Midlands, 181 bridges will be replaced.

Columbia-area bridges targeted for replacement include the S.C. 277 bridge over Interstate 77, an Interstate 126 bridge over a railroad and the Blossom Street bridge over a downtown Columbia railway, near the Palmetto Compress Building.

Some of those bridges now cannot support heavier vehicles, including school buses and garbage trucks, said Leland Colvin, deputy secretary of engineering for the Transportation Department. That costs money as the heavier vehicles are forced to take longer detours, Colvin said.

Interstate improvements

The Midlands is a hub for interstates — Interstates 20, 26 and 77 —that will see major improvements.

Within a decade, plans call for nearly all of the pavement on S.C. interstates — 92 percent — to be in good condition. That is up from 65 percent in 2016.

Interstate 26, which extends to Charleston, will be widened to three lanes in each direction in the Midlands from mile markers 85 to 101.

“You are moving people. You’re moving goods. You’re moving products that are being sold,” said state Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington.

“Time is money,” said Rick Todd of the S.C. Trucking Association, which supported the gas-tax increase. “Time sitting in traffic is expensive. Time in the repair shop and not rolling is expensive.”