State Infrastructure Bank

[vicupstate]

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20120909/NEWS/309090016/Road-funding-system-draws-fire?odyssey=tab{sodEmoji.|}topnews{sodEmoji.|}img{sodEmoji.|}FRONTPAGE

Interesting article and graphic about this program. Charleston, Horry, Florence have gotten the lion share of the funding. The I-526 extention should not be funded, IMO.

[krazeeboi]

Interesting. Of course there are politics at work and Charleston and Horry are the two most tourist-oriented counties in the state, but officials are saying funding requires a local match from the requesting county and many aren't able to do that because they don't have those mechanisms in play, e.g. a local option sales tax.

[gman430]

The South Carolina Highway Commission decided today in a 7-0 to reject sponsoring the I-526 extension project. Great news as this project would have been nothing but a big waste of money that screws every other part of the state.

[ZUMAN]

The South Carolina Highway Commission decided today in a 7-0 to reject sponsoring the I-526 extension project. Great news as this project would have been nothing but a big waste of money that screws every other part of the state.

First of all, the project is to complete I-526, not an extension. Second, I'm sure most the folks in the Upstate and Midlands would think this is a big waste of money. I think the billion dollars spent on the Big Dig project in Boston was a big waste of money, but then I don't live and drive in Boston.

Regardless of the highway commission vote today, I-526 will be completed, once the politics of the project are resolved.

[erm1981]

I have to agree with Zuman on this one. I was born and raised in the upstate living there 28 years then moved to Charleston, SC a few years ago. Traffic in the upstate is not comparable to Charleston traffic. When I lived in the upstate I felt like i could travel at will where i wanted to go, but its a lot different here. The upstate is sprawled out enough to let traffic flow better. Folly Beach Rd, Main Rd, and the James island Expressway are the only roads letting traffic flow from James Island and that is not enough. We need I-526 finished.

[Spartan]

The reason Charleston County's numbers are so high is because of the new Cooper River Bridge. That thing cost something like $700 million. Add a few more projects in there and you'll get over $1 billion pretty quickly.

My opinion is that SCDOT is not using the Infrastructure Bank to to level at which is should. It's a great concept, one that is lauded by other states. The key issue is that there aren't very many needed road projects in South Carolina that cost over $100 million. Bridges along the coast are the most common example of projects that would fall in that category. SCDOT should use the money to widen the rest of I-85 and I-26 between Columbia and Charleston, for road maintenance, and invest more heavily into right-of-way preservation for a future passenger rail system. I wouldn't object to seeing some of the money spent on the port in Charleston, but I think the intent is for more land-based infrastructure.

What about funding the needed improvements to Malfunction Junction in Columbia?

What about building a new highway or improving an existing one to parallel US-123 west of Greenville? Or perhaps a similar scenario on Highway 9 north of Spartanburg?

SCDOT could invest more in repairing state-maintained streets in small towns that can't afford street improvements to make their towns more pedestrian friendly. Road diets that are funded by the state, rather than by the cities that want/need them would be a monumental step forward.

My point is that is that SCDOT could adopt a more flexible spending plan and better utilize the existing pot of money without new revenue sources and without forcing counties to adopt a local option sales tax.