GETTING ANSWERS: Parris Bridge Road follow-up

SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Not only do we report on the roads with the most potholes and problems in The Upstate but we follow up to see if officials make the repairs on schedule.

We covered Parris Bridge Road in January. We started getting submissions again by March.

Parris Bridge Road runs 13 miles through Boiling Springs and Chesnee, almost until the state line.

Drivers tell us they’re still not seeing any progress.

Dean Franklin owns Dean’s Body Shop, in Boiling Springs.

“We haven’t got any potholes, because we haven’t got any road left to have potholes anymore because it’s so rough,” Franklin said.

Franklin’s shop has been around for 44 years. He’s watched a great deal change on Parris Bridge Road.

“Grows like a weed—there’s so many houses and all that they’re building in here,” said Franklin, “And the road won’t keep up with it.”

What hasn’t changed is the condition of the road, according to the people who drive it every, single day.

“I haven’t seen any work on this road in, probably, 10/12 years,” Franklin said.

The state’s Department of Transportation isn’t sure when Parris Bridge was last paved.

Sherry Anderson works alongside Franklin.

“You’ll catch them filling a pothole every once in a while, but that’s about it,” Anderson said, “There’s no pavement, no nothing.”

The SCDOT says crews filled 20 potholes since December.

Body shops are typically noisy, but not like Parris Bridge Road.

“You hear more road noise than anything because it’s so rough. I mean, you’re on a roller coaster. It just bounces all the time,” said Anderson.

Last we spoke to the DOT, they told us this road was a part of the 2022 Pavement Improvement Program. However, the work has not started.

“It makes me feel bad, because I’m one of the commissioners at the local fire station,” said Franklin, “And we have to run our fire trucks up and down these rough roads.”

The reason for the timeline is because there are multiple roads on this contract with Rogers Group. Work on Parris Bridge Road is expected to begin in late, Spring 2023. Completion time is set for around August 2024. Plus, crews will reset the guard rails drivers say are too low.

For the drivers concerned about standing water on the bridge over the Pacolet River, just last week, crews opened weep holes to drain off standing water.

“It needs to be repaved, redone—not just fill in the potholes here and there and say, ‘Oh, it’s good to go, for now,’” Anderson said.

Submit a road here.

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