Getting Answers: Bessie Rd.

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

Bessie Road is one of our most requested roads to date.

Drivers tell us it’s an uncomfortable ride, covered in potholes. Some tell us they avoid this road altogether.

“It sounds like you’re on a dirt road, a bumpy road. Some of the potholes will knock your car out of line. Your tires and all, it will mess them up,” Belton resident, Mike Whitt said.

Whitt takes Bessie Road to Piedmont a few times a week.

“I hit a pothole not too long ago and it knocked my front end out of line. It wore my tires out on the front. I had to go buy tires and it was because of that pothole.”

Heather Weaber has also had car problems.

“Its always got lots of potholes. I even got a flat tire one time on the road,” Weaber said.

Weaber works at a convenience store on Bessie Road, and hears the chatter among the neighbors.

“They just complain about it constantly saying someone needs to do something. They’re worried about other roads that they’ve been working on and nothing’s getting done,” Weaber said, “They need to try to fix it and fix it the right away.”

Taking drivers from Anderson County to Greenville County, the South Carolina Department of Transportation estimates 6,000 to 10,000 cars hit this stretch daily.

With new housing developments going up, neighbors are seeing more traffic.

“Its gotten more busy because there are so many places getting built and more people coming to us,” Weaber said.

Regina agrees, writing in, “SCDOT planned to redo it but nothing has been done and more housing developments are being built off that road. This will only create more traffic on a road that truly needs to be redone and repaired.”

Bessie Road is on the list of roads DOT plans to repair this year.

Crews will install center line rumble strips and make improvements to the railroad crossing near Main Street in Piedmont.

“If they don’t do something, it’s going to get worse with all of this traffic,” Weaber said.

Bessie Road is also part of the 2023 Pavement Improvement Program.

Do you have a road concern? Submit it here.

Copyright 2023 WHNS. All rights reserved.