GETTING ANSWERS: Highway 11 follow up

OCONEE COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - We are following up on the progress of work on Highway 11.

Highway 11 is a rather long highway, but we’re focused on the portion of it, in Oconee County, from the exit 1 ramp, in Fair Play, on into Seneca.

Last July, the highway was covered in potholes. The state’s Department of Transportation has followed through with their promises to pave it from the ramp to about Highway 24.

So, we checked with drivers to see what they think of the progress.

Connie McCall says it’s like night and day.

“From 85 to coming up 11 from exit 1 used to be horrible. It is much better now,” McCall said, “It almost looks like you’re in a different county.”

Ron Jackson has taken notice too.

“It has got a nice, fresh topping on it. Before, it was terrible,” Jackson said, “It was cracked, potholes, and everything else, when we first moved in.”

Victor Reyes remembers avoiding the road completely before it was paved.

“It was not good. I usually go to different roads—441 to get to Atlanta because here—the traffic, and everything, was terrible, but now, it’s better,” said Reyes.

The DOT paved about 4.5 miles from the ramp to South Union Road. They finished it back in November of last year. ·There were some delays due to cement shortages, truck availability, and added work to the road for the welcome center. They also worked on the actual ramps.

Jackson says nicer roads are important to the tourism the area gets from Lake Hartwell.

“They won’t come,” Jackson said, “If they’ve got a good road, and they’ve got a good lake, and a good place to go to; they’ll show up.”

Crews also widened the shoulders to make room for a bike lane, guardrails were reset, treatments were replaced, and they did some milling over patchy areas over the last few weeks.

“There was a lot of bumps, because the roads are very bad, but now, I can see they’re working on it. And now, the drive is very, very smooth,” Reyes said.

Most of the drivers we talked to are satisfied, however, they want crews to keep going.

“It’s not really bad until you get past 28 into Tamassee and Salem,” McCall said, “And the roads out there and the bridges are horrible.”

Reyes believes the part, near Seneca, needs some attention.

“I think they need to go out there because there a lot of bumps. And a lot of bad spots in there, a lot of holes,” said Reyes.

McCall holds out hope for the section past Highway 28 to look as good as the side in Fair Play.

“I think they’re headed in the right direction. They need to just get all of it done,” McCall said.

McCall also mentioned she wanted crews to look into drop-offs on the side of the road. The SCDOT says they will be working on pavement edges, raised pavement markers, and adding rumble strips.

Another of section of 11 will be paved in an upcoming project where they left off and end at Armstrong Road.

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