Richland roads committee approves $852,000 for Eastover work

Richland County will spend $852,000 to resurface and paint lines on roughly seven miles of roads in the town of Eastover.

The money will come from Richland County’s $10.4 million share of $216 million in surplus money that S.C. lawmakers divided among the state’s 46 counties.

Richland County Transportation Committee chairman James Brown said the remainder of the money will be spent on state roads already identified as needing repairs.

“There will be enough road requests for us to spend that money,” Brown said, adding the committee will study proposed repair projects. “We’re going to make sure we’re using it for the best projects.”

Brown said the money could be spent within a couple of months or over the next year or two.

The surplus money was divided among counties based on a formula that takes into account a county’s population, its geographic size and the number of miles it has of rural roads.

The $10.4 million that Richland County received this year is in addition to the roughly $3.6 million the county received for road repairs from the state’s gas tax.

Lawmakers required the surplus be spent on state roads that need resurfacing or paving, or bridges that need to be repaired.

Other Midlands counties also will be deciding how to spend the surplus money.

Lexington County received $8.5 million in surplus money. Kershaw County got $4.3 million and Sumter County got $5.1 million.

State Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland, whose district includes Eastover, said he was happy roads in the town are being addressed. But the added state money does not come close to the amount needed to repair roads in Richland or statewide, he added.

When senators return in January, a road-repair proposal that includes increasing the gas tax and other road fees will be at the top of their agenda.

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Richland roads committee approves $852,000 for Eastover work."