Paving 101
When Will My Neighborhood Be Paved?
When I knock a door or show up to an HOA meeting, there is one question I hear over and over again: when will my neighborhood be paved?
Interestingly enough, the County runs the resurfacing program for nearly every road on James Island - whether you are in the City, the Town, or on a state road. And, roads are assessed for paving based on data alone. There are two sides to this coin: unfortunately - I can't add your neighborhood to the top of the paving list. Fortunately - the paving selection process is informed by data and a clear rubric, so we have an open, transparent and fair process.
Here is what I have learned, in consultation with County staff:
Charleston County runs the resurfacing program: The County's Pavement Management System evaluates inspection data for all state secondary roads and all locally paved roads in the County - approximately 1,900 miles. Each year, their team analyzes every road segment to determine the most effective and cost-efficient maintenance plan. So even though Camp and Dills Bluff belong to DOT, and your neighborhood street may belong to the City or the Town, the County is the one evaluating your street. However, to make it even more confusing, SCDOT may elect to pave its own secondary roads, and some municipalities resurface their own streets.
The condition of each road is measured to determine the order: A data collection vehicle drives the roads and measures roughness, cracks and potholes to produce a Pavement Condition Index. Then, roads in "fair to good" condition may receive a preservation treatment - crack sealing, chip seals, slurry seals, micro-surfacing, etc. That is not a guarantee, though: funding and treatment type are both factors. Roads in "poor to very poor condition," go on the list for rehabilitation or full reconstruction.
Pavement dollars comes from two places, and neither is large: "C Funds" come from the state's 16.8 cents per gallon gas tax, and the Charleston County Transportation Committee historically allocates around $6 million a year for resurfacing. The County's Transportation Sales Tax program adds about $4 million a year. If we want to keep paving our roads, we absolutely must pass the TST extension this November.
What is Happening on James Island
The good news is, we are going to see pavement improvements on James Island! Fort Johnson Road and almost all of the Westchester neighborhood (Bresee St, Seacroft Rd, Sineca Pl, Westwood Dr, Woodview Ln, Woodhill Ter, Westway Dr, Westridge Cir, Westmoreland Ave and Signal Point Rd) are funded and in the queue. Paving is estimated to start next spring, and already, we've seen work crews out getting driveways ready for this work before it gets too cold.
What We Can Do
First, we must pass the half-cent sales tax extension in November. Without you, the County's ability to pave roads will be seriously diminished.
Next, you can look up the condition of any road on the County's Pavement Condition Map: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/530f09c3bb0f4220839b685973ab67ce/. And, if you have specific questions about your road, you can contact County Public Works Customer Service at PWCustomerService@charlestoncounty.org.
Going forward, I would like to see the size of funding for pavement increase, and to see if the City could potentially get its own paving truck and crew to help with our smaller neighborhoods and City-owned streets. This would be a long-term goal, but it is something I will begin to chase down as we dive into next year's budget.