Economic Development in South Carolina

[Charleston native]

Considering the fact that G'ville has far more substantial road and highway infrastructure than Chas should debunk any notion that the state government favors Chas over G'ville. The article just confirms what should be a given: G'ville has had it very good the past decade or so. In reality, Chas is finally catching up.

I especially liked how Sanford answered the issue of Chas getting the Vought aircraft plant:

As for Vought/Alenia, Sanford said the aircraft parts suppliers wanted their 725-worker manufacturing complex to be near a 10,000-foot runway as well as a port.

"We've only got one deepwater port in the state, so that's not a Charleston-driven decision," the governor said. "That's an infrastructure-driven decision based on the fact that the port's there."

[GvilleSC]

Considering the fact that G'ville has far more substantial road and highway infrastructure than Chas should debunk any notion that the state government favors Chas over G'ville. The article just confirms what should be a given: G'ville has had it very good the past decade or so. In reality, Chas is finally catching up.

I'm not sure I understand where you are going with this. Can you elaborate?

[g-man430]

I'm not sure I understand where you are going with this. Can you elaborate?

He is saying our roads are better than the roads in Charleston, which is somewhat true. Look at I-385 north of I-85 here than look at highway 17 and I-95 in Charleston. Shouldn't be hard to tell the difference between the two.

Edited March 8, 2007 by g-man430

[goodbye]

He is saying our roads are better than the roads in Charleston, which is somewhat true. Look at I-385 north of I-85 here than look at highway 17 and I-95 in Charleston. Shouldn't be hard to tell the difference between the two.

G-man, you picked the one road that is actually decent to drive on here - it was last to be completed as well. In my opinion, the road infrustructure is not substantially better, only more heavily traveled. I wouldn't brag about our roads to anyone in the nation. They are absolutely miserably in need of maintenance. Greenville has had it good because of its own leadership, and now it is a high-powered engine chugging along regardless of the problems. I just hope something can be worked out in SC to sustain our high quality of life without sacrificing our rapid growth.

[GvilleSC]

He is saying our roads are better than the roads in Charleston, which is somewhat true. Look at I-385 north of I-85 here than look at highway 17 and I-95 in Charleston. Shouldn't be hard to tell the difference between the two.

I think you're simplifying it. Yea, we just got a widening that was badly needed. You can't compare stuff to that. Is there not an extremely nice and beautiful bridge in Charleston spanning the Cooper River?

"Substantial roads and highway structure" seems to be saying that we've got better roads and more of them because of political ties. I don't think this can be proven. Greenville County's roads are in horrible condition. We can have roads virtually anywhere because we don't have water in the way to work around-- which could be a problem for Charleston's connectivity of roads. Also, I'd say population and traffic is more important than politcal favoritism. One million people to support as well as a major north/south artery must be supported in the upstate. If there is more road money here, then that should be why.

Edited March 8, 2007 by GvilleSC

[g-man430]

Why can they fix I-385 north of I-85 here, but they can't fix highway 17 in Charleston?

Edited March 8, 2007 by g-man430

[Spartan]

I dont see Greenville County's roads as being particularly worse than any other roads in the state. And I say that as someone who has travelled this state extensively.

[g-man430]

I dont see Greenville County's roads as being particularly worse than any other roads in the state. And I say that as someone who has travelled this state extensively.

Personally, I think Greenville has some of the best roads in the state and that's saying a lot compared to the rest of the country.

[GvilleSC]

I dont see Greenville County's roads as being particularly worse than any other roads in the state. And I say that as someone who has travelled this state extensively.

They aren't necessarily worse, but they sure aren't the best in the state, either. What is good about our roads, I'd give credit locally.

[g-man430]

They aren't necessarily worse, but they sure aren't the best in the state, either. What is good about our roads, I'd give credit locally.

How are they not the best in the state? It sure seems like they are to me. If Greenville doesn't have the best roads in South Carolina then who does?

Edited March 8, 2007 by g-man430

[g-man430]

Speaking of road conditions in Greenville and the upstate here is an article in todays Greenville News about how the upstate is going to get more money for road repairs: http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...EWS01/703070503 Thoughts and opinions?

Edited March 8, 2007 by g-man430

[krazeeboi]

I think York County's roads are pretty decent. There's been a lot of upgrading and maintenance within the past 5 years or so.

[Spartan]

How are they not the best in the state? It sure seems like they are to me. If Greenville doesn't have the best roads in South Carolina then who does?

Georgia.

[krazeeboi]

Ummm, Spartan....I think you might want to reread gman's comment.

[Spartan]

No, I meant what I said. That was very much an intentional mistake.

[krazeeboi]

So you're saying that Georgia has the best roads in South Carolina?

[g-man430]

So you're saying that Georgia has the best roads in South Carolina?

Pretty soon our interstates are going to be gravel roads and our back roads will be dirt.

Edited March 9, 2007 by g-man430

[Charleston native]

So you're saying that Georgia has the best roads in South Carolina?

I think he's using sarcasm to basically say that there no great roads in SC, so the nearest place to find great roads is our neighboring state.

[krazeeboi]

I reckon...LOL.

I actually find I-77 to be pretty decent for pretty much the whole route. It's not the best between York and Fairfield counties, but it's not I-95 either.

[Spartan]

I think he's using sarcasm to basically say that there no great roads in SC, so the nearest place to find great roads is our neighboring state.

Exactly. I knew someone would get it

There are a lot more roads in this state that suck then there are roads that don't suck. Im not saying they are all bad, because we do have good roads in general. I just think that our neighbor to the west has a much better maintenance program, which keeps up the quality of its rural roads much better than ours. I say that as someone who has traveled Georgia and South Carolina extensively. It helps that they have a major cash cow city though. Of course, if we want to make ourselves feel better about our roads, we need only look to our neighbor to the north.

[Charleston native]

Exactly. I knew someone would get it

And I agree with you 100%!

States that SC should really model itself after for excellent, consistently maintained roads are FL and GA. First of all, they make sure they spend tons of their revenue on their roads, from interstates to 2-lane county roads. They do not pride themselves on spending the least amount of money on road infrastructure, like our state does.

[Charleston native]

I think you're simplifying it. Yea, we just got a widening that was badly needed. You can't compare stuff to that. Is there not an extremely nice and beautiful bridge in Charleston spanning the Cooper River?

I meant to respond to this earlier. True, Chas got a beautiful new bridge, but replacing the old bridges was long overdue for about 20 years. The old bridges were substandard and failed many state and federal tests. G'ville was getting improvements for its highways during this 20-year span. Like I said earlier, Chas is finally catching up with the other Big 2. However, there are still much needed additional highways and extensions. Primarily, the last southwest section of I-526 needs to be completed, and a new I-95 connector should be built (which, IMO should be the Glenn McConnell Parkway) to facilitate better hurricane evac.

[GvilleSC]

I meant to respond to this earlier. True, Chas got a beautiful new bridge, but replacing the old bridges was long overdue for about 20 years. The old bridges were substandard and failed many state and federal tests. G'ville was getting improvements for its highways during this 20-year span. Like I said earlier, Chas is finally catching up with the other Big 2. However, there are still much needed additional highways and extensions. Primarily, the last southwest section of I-526 needs to be completed, and a new I-95 connector should be built (which, IMO should be the Glenn McConnell Parkway) to facilitate better hurricane evac.

I'm not debating whether the new bridge was needed-- that was obvious. I was illustrating to G-man that while Greenville got an artery widened, Charleston was also getting a much needed improvement.

[goodbye]

I meant to respond to this earlier. True, Chas got a beautiful new bridge, but replacing the old bridges was long overdue for about 20 years. The old bridges were substandard and failed many state and federal tests. G'ville was getting improvements for its highways during this 20-year span. Like I said earlier, Chas is finally catching up with the other Big 2. However, there are still much needed additional highways and extensions. Primarily, the last southwest section of I-526 needs to be completed, and a new I-95 connector should be built (which, IMO should be the Glenn McConnell Parkway) to facilitate better hurricane evac.

According to a recent study (someone may be able to locate this online), Greenville County has more substandard bridges than any other county in the state. I would seriously doubt our road conditions (infrustructure) are superior to that of the Charleston area.

Edit: I found more than one article about the report, which was released by AAA of the Carolinas. This one is from the Anderson-Independent Mail. It appears that overall, the Upstate is leading the rest of the state in number of substandard bridges. It is also clear from the report that this problem exists in all parts of the state though.

Edited March 12, 2007 by Skyliner

[Spartan]

Thats true. While it is a statewide issue, our part of the state has the most bridges (substandard or otherwise) due to the variable terrain and many small creeks and streams.