"Today's report from the National TRIP organization reinforces what South Carolinians are seeing on our roads each day – active road improvement projects and work zones in all 46 counties. Thanks to the investments by the General Assembly in the 2017 Roads Bill, SCDOT has been able to triple our construction work. The TRIP report states that those investments have allowed SCDOT to make significant improvements to our pavements and bridges, progress toward a state of good repair that was promised in 2017.
"The TRIP report also reinforces something else South Carolinians see every day on our highways: congestion, which continues to increase. South Carolina is the 10th fastest growing state in the nation, and our transportation network must keep pace. While the 2017 Roads Bill provided a significant funding boost, it still fell just short of providing sufficient funding to deal with the explosive growth in our state.
"Congestion needs to be addressed on our urban and rural interstates, such accelerating the widening of I-26 between Charleston and Columbia. In addition, congestion and economic development needs must be tackled within communities all across South Carolina. The issue of congestion, delay and unreliability of the transportation network impacts every South Carolinian on a daily basis. Whether it is getting to work or school on time or the delivery of packages and freight all across the state, it matters if the network is operating smoothly.
"State and federal lawmakers are currently considering new one-time funding for roads from the American Rescue Plan Act and sustained federal funding increases for transportation infrastructure. Taken together, they represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve more of South Carolina's roads and bridges more quickly to – not only get us to a state of good repair but also to begin to deal with the rapid growth in our state and to guard our future economic prosperity.
"I respectfully urge Congress to act to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment Act to fund road and bridge work and for our state policy makers to continue their commitment to investing in infrastructure here in South Carolina."
-- Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall, P.E., September 22, 2021.
####