GETTING ANSWERS: Augusta Road follow-up

GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - We are following up on the first, “Getting Answers” road we covered.

Augusta Road is a part of Highway 25, in Greenville County. It runs from Highway 178 to White Horse Road.

The areas with major potholes were Pelzer, Piedmont, and Princeton; especially around the Twin Chimneys Landfill. And after almost one year, to date, since we launched “Getting Answers,” crews are in the process of paving the highway.

Augusta Road is our most-requested, “Getting Answers” road ever, with over 12 requests; (we’re used to three to five). And those are just the requests since the story aired.

Christina Burrall-Thompson sent one of those submissions.

“I’m glad that it’s being heard and that things are happening to help improve the area, because I feel like Southern Greenville County gets neglected a lot,” Thompson continues, “I’m grateful that the road is being repaired now. It’s about time the tax dollars started coming our way.”

Things are turning around for Augusta Road. Bobbie Jones couldn’t hide her frustrations with the road.

“I’m happy that they are finally doing something on this road. I would get angry every time I would ride up and down,” Jones said.

Augusta Road was one of the worst roads we’ve covered.

Collin White says his bus couldn’t take the bumps

“I drive a bus, once in a while. And it about rattled the doors off it going down there,” White said,

Thompson says she didn’t feel safe riding her motorcycle over those conditions.

“Having a motorcycle out here is very beneficial with the cost of gas and the economy being so unreasonable now,” Thompson said, “And there’s no public transportation out this way either. So, we get by any means we can.”

Drivers told us they feared the ride would damage their vehicles. Jones works at a dealership and has seen it all

“We do alignments,” Jones said, “And potholes... tear the cars up,” Jones said.

Last week, we saw crews milling and resurfacing near the intersection of Chapman Road and in front of Twin Chimneys Landfill. The state’s Department of Transportation told us, last year, work was to start that Summer.

“I think they just told us... what we wanted to hear, but... they didn’t start back in the Summer,” said Jones, “There’s no way.”

Jones is right. The SCDOT says Augusta Road was a part of a bigger project that includes Highway 8. That work started last October. Currently, though, you can see at least one lane paved in both directions.

“Even with the little bumps and places they haven’t gotten to yet, it’s still a lot better than what it was,” White said, “The good part of it, they covered a lot of those potholes and made it a lot smoother.”

Crews are paving between Columbia Road and Nance Drive. There were a few, patchy spots near Pelzer, but compared to what we last reported, it’s a 180-degree turnaround.

Drivers blame the heavy trucks from the Twin Chimneys Landfill for the deterioration and fear the pavement won’t hold. The DOT says the pavement design has taken the heavy truck traffic into account. And the road should withstand it as long as the trucks are within the legal weight limit.

And they are on track to finish by August 2022, as promised. They’re about 30 percent complete. The design life is expected to last 10 to 15 years.

“I’m looking forward to seeing both lanes, on both sides, being covered. And, hopefully, it’ll last a while,” Thompson said.

Submit a road here.

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