GETTING ANSWERS: Highway 25, Greenville County

GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - In our first addition of “Getting Answers,” we got to the bottom of some bad road conditions on Highway 25 in the Princeton area.

Frequent drivers complain there are potholes staining the road from Twin Chimneys Landfill all the way down Augusta Road as you head toward Greenville in Princeton, Moonville, and Pelzer, as well as the opposite direction heading toward Greenwood. Residents have noticed that officials have patched most of them up, however, they wonder why the road isn’t entirely paved.

Kenneth Brooks says he’s noticed the potholes, so he reached out to Fox Carolina.

“25 is messed up from Twin Chimneys up to Highway 9, Pelzer,” Brooks said.

Brooks says it’s nearly impossible to avoid them. He says if you try to veer around them, you’ll end up in another pothole.

“Oh, it jars you when you’re going up through there. And you cannot miss the patches because it has been patched so much,” Brooks said.

Brooks noticed once you get toward Greenwood, near the BP gas station in Honea Path, the road is paved. He wonders why officials stopped there.

“They just need to pave it all the way up to Pelzer,” Brook said.

Many of our viewers asked where the tax dollars are going.

“Why are they wasting money patching when the patches do not last? And they could pave it and probably come out better in the long-run,” said Brooks.

According to the state’s Department of Transportation, The Road’s Bill was passed back in 2017, raising the gas tax in two cent increments. Communications Director Pete Poore says SCDOT is already on the job.

“We know that those patched roads and sections of US 25 need to be resurfaced,” Poore said. “It’s coming. We’re not sitting around thinking, ‘Gee, maybe we ought to do something about this.’ We’ve already made that decision.”

We asked Poore about the timing. He says the tax money doesn’t come as quickly as you might think.

“It is providing an additional 600 million dollars to do this kind of work. We did not get that money on July 1, 2017,” Poore said, “The contractors can’t do all the work all at one time. That’s why we call it a 10-year plan. The money has to accumulate through pumping gas at the station.”

The good news is, Poore assures drivers a nine-mile section from Columbia Road to Nance Drive will likely be ready by August 2022.

“The project is scheduled to take place this year and probably be finished next year,” Poore said.

As far as a timeline for the beginning of the roadwork, Poore says to check back with him this summer to see if the project has begun. Fox Carolina will be following up.

Poore says the SCDOT’s website has a list of other roads that will also be a part of this project.

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