Getting Answers Update: HWY 243

ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - We are working to get you answers about your Upstate road concerns.

We have an update about a rough highway that runs through two Upstate counties.

When we told you about Highway 243 in April, the South Carolina Department of had no repaving projects planned.

“We’ve written the state, written legislatures, contacted you guys at Fox Carolina. I’ve written the governor,” Anderson County resident, James Brown said.

In April, Brown wrote in, telling us he had been trying for two years to get something done.

Three months later, crews are working on the road.

“I believe it was you guys showing up doing the first interview. I don’t know if it embarrassed them or somebody saw the interview and contacted the right people, but I know we finally put enough pressure on them and they needed it because this is a dangerous road,” Brown said.

Highway 243 takes drivers from Anderson to Oconee county, and drivers tell us most of the issues are on the Anderson County side.

You’ll see pothole after pothole all along the seven mile stretch, and drivers wrote in, asking us if crews are planning to smooth things out.

You’ll find potholes and cracks covering Highway 243, and neighbors believe the road is neglected.

“It’s an old road. It’s narrow. It’s crumbling, and we get a lot of traffic,” James Brown, who lives along Highway 243, said.

Highway 243 runs parallel to Interstate 85, near exit 4, just a few miles from the Georgia line.

“When the interstate, they have a wreck or something, they divert all the down here,” Brown said.

Brown said the extra traffic is tearing the road apart.

“A lot of potholes. You have to watch where you’re going. You could hit a hole a run off the road pretty easy if you’re not careful,” Brown said.

Glynette writes in, “HWY 243 is in desperate need of repaving. Patches have made the road like riding a rollercoaster. New potholes everyday because tractor trailers use it as a detour from interstate 85.”

Brown agrees. “You’ve got to be careful, especially when the traffic, like big trucks are coming by. This is a pretty narrow road.”

According to South Carolina Department of Transportation, around 2,800 cars hit the seven-mile stretch, from Highway 24 to the Oconee County line, daily.

Brown moved to Fair Play when he retired seven years ago.

“A lot of people are moving here, especially from out of state and I don’t know if they have taken that into consideration, as far as the traffic and the growth impacting the roads and stuff,” Brown said.

He said the road has gone downhill. “It seems to have gotten worse. If they’re going to continue to use it as an alternative route for when they have accidents on the interstate, they should at least go ahead and make the repairs.”

In mid-July, crews started repaving the Anderson County side.

“First, they told us they were going to do it, then they said they didn’t have the money. Then suddenly, they just showed up out of nowhere,” Brown said.

After breaking up the old pavement on both sides of the road, trucks will come in and pour fresh concrete.

“The crews showed up. They said they were going to widen the road and they were going to repave it from here to Highway 24, which is about nine or ten miles.”

Drivers can expect some delays along Highway 243 while crews are working on the road for the next several weeks.

Submit your road or bridge concerns here.

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