GETTING ANSWERS: Highway 101 follow-up

SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - We returned to Highway 101 to follow up on the South Carolina Department of Transportation’s promised work.

The highway runs through Greenville, Spartanburg, and Laurens Counties. However, the main issues were in Spartanburg County, in Woodruff.

In May 2021, the SCDOT assured they’d be resurfacing the road, with completion by September 2022.

Work is just about complete. Most drivers are pleased, while others feel there is still more work to go.

Emily Robinson has noticed the difference.

“Oh, I love it. It’s nice to drive down the road, now, without hitting big holes and dodging holes and all of that,” Emily said.

Her daughter-in-law Sue Robins says they can now ride in peace.

“I think it’s been great. They’ve done a really good job, finally. It took them a while, but we’re all pleased,” said Sue.

The DOT says Highway 101 received full-depth, cement reclamation for a 12-inch stabilized base beneath a new, four-inch asphalt surface. It was also widened two feet on each side, where achievable, to provide a paved shoulder. This work took about two months.

Emily says the last time this happened, she was a little girl.

“Back when I was... probably in 1960 or something like that,” said Emily.

Emily says she will not miss what used to be.

“You couldn’t drive anywhere without big holes and messing your car up,” Emily said, “It was a mess.”

We received ten complaints about Highway 101. And 114 potholes were patched between 2020 and 2021.

Sue says the resurfacing was well overdue.

“101 was really bad,” Sue said, “It was potholes everywhere. You had to go to opposite sides of the road to dodge the holes. It was pretty bad.”

There is new pavement starting at Main Street in Woodruff to the Laurens County line. That was where the bulk of last year’s complaints was coming from. However, the Laurens County side, in Gray Court, has some problems too. Crews paved from just past Wasp Drive to Hickory Tavern, as well.

Sue says Spartanburg County’s side needed more help.

“I feel like we had it worst, because, if you go past the bridge, it’s Laurens County,” said Sue, “They were paved first.”

Eric Wood still has some reservations.

“It’s nice. It’s pretty smooth. I drive Uber. So, I’m around the whole area quite a bit. There’s definitely still room for improvement,” Wood said.

Everything looks great except the one spot right before Wasp Drive. The SCDOT says Wasp Drive from about one mile west of Gray Court to Highway 14 is already under contract. They plan to finish the job by the end of October 2023.

“Complete what they said they were going to do, in the beginning,” said Wood.

Drivers also complained about the breakdown of the edges around the new pavement. They fear the resurfacing won’t last because of this.

The DOT says most asphalt surfaces contain minor traveling at the edges due to the stone in the asphalt mix. However, there was one, isolated area of failure noted during the final inspection due to soil saturation. They will fix that. And drivers shouldn’t be concerned. The work is expected to last 30 years with proper maintenance.

Report a road here.

Copyright 2022 WHNS. All rights reserved.