GETTING ANSWERS: Jones Mill Road

FOUNTAIN INN, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - We checked into Jones Mill Road for “Getting Answers.”

This road is in the Fountain Inn/Simpsonville area, of Greenville County.

Drivers let us know the potholes are the worst between Scuffletown Road and Fountain Inn High School.

Ryan Niemi deals with this road on the daily.

“A lot of vibration, you hit those potholes. It’s a big thud when you’re driving your vehicle,” Niemi said.

Niemie also says there are weeds blocking the view when he pulls out of the driveway.

“There are a lot of potholes,” said Niemi, “There are a lot of visibility problems, a lot of high grass by the roads.”

There have been 25 crashes on Jones Mill from 2017 to 2022, according the state Highway Patrol—so, relatively low.

Still, Leslie Bak says the drive doesn’t feel safe.

“I’ve had rocks come up, hit the cars, the windshield—so on and so forth,” Leslie said, “We drive this way every day, because we have a son at Fountain Inn High School.”

The road clears up a bit as you head east toward Simpsonville, and the pavement is better right around the school. Jason Bak is hoping for the same efforts on the bad side.

“It would be nice if it was nice and smooth sailing, but it’s not,” Jason said.

Here’s why the sides are different. The state’s Department of Transportation says Jones Mill Road is part of both the Farm to Market Secondary system and the Neighborhood Street system; with each portion being ranked separately. The Farm to Market portion between the high school and Scuffletown Road ranked to be included in the 2022 program.  The portion east of Scuffletown Road is part of the Neighborhood Street system and ranked high enough to be selected for an earlier program. The resurfacing and roadway improvements around the new high school itself were performed by the school district and the county transportation committee to accommodate the new traffic associated with the school.

We also noticed some new developments in the area.

“We have had a lot of growth in the area,” said Leslie, “And so, that is causing a lot of deterioration as far as the roads.”

The DOT says Jones Mill can see anywhere from 500 to three thousand vehicles per day. The school traffic, coupled with the new developments, are why having smoother roads are important to this community.

“Please, fix it like what has been done down by the Fountain Inn High School. It has been paved. It’s new. We’d like to see it spread out this way. It would be nice,” Leslie said.

The SCDOT says Jones Mill Road is under contract. Work is set to begin in Spring 2023.

Neimi has some suggestions.

“I’d say it definitely would need to be repaved fully,” said Niemi, “And, in my opinion, if you could widen the road a little bit.”

When is comes to who cleans up the weeds, this depends on the location. If it is an intersecting county-owned or city-owned roadway, then Greenville County Roads and Bridges or the City of Fountain Inn could potentially be the responsible agency. However, if the weeds are on the SCDOT right-of-way, then SCDOT would be responsible for them.  A work order can be placed by contacting Greenville Maintenance at 864-241-1224.

“They need to look at it,” said Jason, “They just put a high school down there. So, those kids are going to start driving soon. So, we need better roads.”

Submit a road here.

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