S.C. drivers worry about how local bridge closures will affect them
BEECH ISLAND, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - The South Carolina Department of Transportation is laying out plans to repair and close the Sand Bar Ferry bridge in Beech Island.
The detour will be about eight and a half miles along with lane closures.
It will eventually take you through Interstate 520 if you’re trying to get across the river.
SCDOT held a drop-in meeting on Monday night at Clearwater Elementary School where people got to learn and ask questions about the Sand Bar Ferry project.
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With multiple other bridge closures on important routes like Atomic Road and Storm Branch Road, people are worried about congestion and losing options on their commutes.
“They closed this one down, they closed Atomic Road, and if they closed Sandbar Ferry, I just don’t know how people are going to get to Jackson or SRS,” says Alicia Devine-Lee, a resident of Beech Island.
Devine-Lee says waiting on bridge projects like Storm Branch Road, Atomic Road and eventually Sand Bar Ferry Road is causing more than frustration.
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“It’s definitely impacted us,” says Devine-Lee. “Our cost has gone up because you have to go around time feeling the effects. We have to go at least 20 minutes out of our way to detour around, not to mention the gas that we have to use.”
SCDOT’s project manager, Alex Bennett, says the rehabilitation project on Sand Bar Ferry is being coordinated with the Atomic Road Bridge project so the two do not overlap.
“The entire construction for this project is approximately 15 months, with the last around two months of this project being the time frame that it would undergo a full closing detour,” says Bennett. “So that’s well after the Atomic Road Bridges are slated to be reopened.”
Bennett says the reason behind the large amount of bridge closures is age, not meeting safety standards and SCDOT using funds while they have them.
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Last year, the general assembly allocated $200 million for state bridges, which has sped up SCDOT’s plan to complete 500 bridges.
“A lot of the bridges that need work are actually getting the work now,” says Bennett. “And that’s why you see a lot of cones out on the street. You see a lot of resurfacing going on.”
Devine-Lee says it will have to be a wait-and-see game on how these projects will impact her drive, but she hopes things end better than what drivers are experiencing now.
“It’s caused a lot of havoc on us already with us having to spend more money on gas and our time to go around,” says Devine-Lee.
Bennett says the project is slated to start this fall with the Atomic Road Bridge being finished by the end of summer.
He says the westbound portion of the bridge will only be completely closed in the last two to three months during resurfacing, which he says will be well past the deadline of Atomic Road.
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